Series: Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund
Program: More TV Stories
Date: 1985-01-01
Duration: 00:01:30

Subject: Drama; Television
People: Segalove, Ilene
Copyright Holder: Ilene Segalove

Clip Description
In Ilene Segalove's "The Forbidden Channel," a young girl's parents purchase a cable television system that provides access to a pornographic channel. They forbid their daughter to watch the channel and leave for the evening. When surfing the stations, the girl performs an elaborate gymnastic tumbling pass when the forbidden channel comes up, thus averting her gaze.

Program Description
A woman, probably Segalove, narrates brief dramatizations of six anecdotal stories, each of which relates in some way to watching television. The dramatizations are humorous and mainly autobiographical, featuring performers wearing everyday clothing in everyday environments. Produced and directed by Ilene Segalove.

The individual segments are as follow:The Pastrami Sandwich: A child watches the Burns and Allen show and realizes he wants a pastrami sandwich.

Dial 116: A child watching television is prompted by an advertisement to call and report a nonexistent fire.

Truth on TV: Driving home, a couple listens to the radio broadcast remarks of a child who reached out and caught a ball at an L.A. Dodgers game.

Hotel Suite: A couple checks into a hotel. The woman is excited by the cleanliness of the room, even the television has been sanitized.

Anatomy in Motion: After experiencing stomach pain, a woman is x-rayed. She drinks a barium milkshake and the nurses whisper descriptions of foods in her ear, encouraging her stomach to create juices and appear on the nearby monitor.

The Forbidden Channel: A young girl's parent's purchase a cable television system that provides access to a pornographic channel; they forbid their daughter to watch the channel and leave for the evening; when surfing the stations, the girl performs an elaborate gymnastic tumbling pass when the forbidden channel comes up, thus averting her gaze.

The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund was a joint venture between Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) and WGBH's New Television Workshop. Funding came from the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities' New Works program in 1983. Co-directors were WGBH's Susan Dowling (New Television Workshop Director, 1982-1993), and David Ross (ICA Director). Kathy Rae Huffman served as curator and producer. The Fund's primary objective was to award money to video artists for new works. The goals were to foster excellence in the exploration of television as a creative medium, broaden video arts international audience through broadcast and gallery exhibition, and increase revenues for artists from the distribution of their works in all markets. Many of the works were broadcast as part of "New Television," and appeared in festivals worldwide. The Fund was also used to sponsor international symposia among curators, distributors, and producers to help promote the growth of video art. In 1990, the ICA assumed full sponsorship of the Fund, where it continued for another year.

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/More30.HTML