Series: Frames of Reference
Program: Ros Barron
Date: 1979-01-01
Subject: Documentary films; Compilations; Barron, Ros

Clip Description
The video is a compilation of works by painter and theater and video artist Ros Barron, whose involvement with New Television Workshop dates back to its inception. This compilation work was created for the series "Frames of Reference." The works featured are an excerpt from the very early "Headgame," the 1976 "Magritte sur la Plage," and "Flowers." Barron's own narration introduces the work, much of which employs collage techniques and gives insight into her process and goals in the medium of video. As she explains, her work investigates the concept of transformation. Both "Magritte sur la Plage" and "Flowers" take place at the ocean and have segments where plastic letters are arranged to spell words. In an excerpt from "Headgame," a man is seated in front of a television set with psychedelic collage effects. This work is included in its entirety in "Zone in Three Parts." "Magritte sur la Plage" has been cataloged separately. In "Flowers," a black-and-white work set at the beach, a mysterious man in a dark overcoat stalks about and places a guitar case near the water's edge. A woman who has been running back and forth happens across the case, opens it, and uses the plastic letters it contains to spell "flowers," which she sounds out bit by bit verbally. The woman lies in the water with flowers on her chest, and the man in the overcoat continues his course at the beach.

Ros Barron first created video works as part of ZONE, a collective of theater artists working at WGBH through funding from the Rockefeller Artists-in-Television program. She went on to work as a Massachusetts Artist-in-Television and as an NEA Visual Artist in the 1970's. "Magritte sur la Plage" was filmed in 1976.

"Frames of Reference" was a series that began circa 1978. Half-hour shows were produced to showcase commissioned and already created works. It was around this time that the focus of the Workshop shifted, to concentrate more heavily on creating works for broadcast. During its time, "Frames of Reference" was the focus of the Workshop's national arts programming effort. The series ended circa 1983.

Program Description
The video is a compilation of works by painter and theater and video artist Ros Barron, whose involvement with New Television Workshop dates back to its inception. This compilation work was created for the series "Frames of Reference." The works featured are an excerpt from the very early "Headgame," the 1976 "Magritte sur la Plage," and "Flowers." Barron's own narration introduces the work, much of which employs collage techniques and gives insight into her process and goals in the medium of video. As she explains, her work investigates the concept of transformation. Both "Magritte sur la Plage" and "Flowers" take place at the ocean and have segments where plastic letters are arranged to spell words. In an excerpt from "Headgame," a man is seated in front of a television set with psychedelic collage effects. This work is included in its entirety in "Zone in Three Parts." "Magritte sur la Plage" has been cataloged separately. In "Flowers," a black-and-white work set at the beach, a mysterious man in a dark overcoat stalks about and places a guitar case near the water's edge. A woman who has been running back and forth happens across the case, opens it, and uses the plastic letters it contains to spell "flowers," which she sounds out bit by bit verbally. The woman lies in the water with flowers on her chest, and the man in the overcoat continues his course at the beach.

Ros Barron first created video works as part of ZONE, a collective of theater artists working at WGBH through funding from the Rockefeller Artists-in-Television program. She went on to work as a Massachusetts Artist-in-Television and as an NEA Visual Artist in the 1970's. "Magritte sur la Plage" was filmed in 1976.

"Frames of Reference" was a series that began circa 1978. Half-hour shows were produced to showcase commissioned and already created works. It was around this time that the focus of the Workshop shifted, to concentrate more heavily on creating works for broadcast. During its time, "Frames of Reference" was the focus of the Workshop's national arts programming effort. The series ended circa 1983.

Series Description
The New Television Workshop originated at WGBH, a public broadcasting station in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1974 to support the creation and development of experimental video art. This experimental programming included dance, drama, music, performance and visual arts on video and film. As early as 1968, WGBH was committed to the development of video art through residency programs, with artists such as Nam June Paik, and the "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" project. Many of these early works (pre-1974) were broadcast both locally and nationally.

As an umbrella for arts related programming, the Workshop included "Artist's Showcase, " "Frames of Reference, " "Dance for Camera, " "Poetry Breaks," and "New Television," as well as acquired arts programming. Individual works were created for "Visions," a series produced by WNET (New York), and "Alive From Off Center," a series produced by KTCA (St. Paul - Minneapolis). The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund was co-founded by the Workshop and Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) in the 1980's, to commission works by video artists. In 1993 the Workshop ceased production at WGBH.

See also: http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/NTW/FA/TITLES/Ros20.HTML