Series: New Television
Program: New Television
Episode: 306 (1987)
Date: 1986-01-01
Duration: 00:00:46

Subject: Childhood
People: Hershman, Lynn
Copyright Holder: Lynn Hershman

Clip Description
At the onset of the Lynn Hershman's work, she tells the audience that as a child she used fantasy to escape the abusive reality of her home life, inventing elaborate stories. This introduction casts a shadow of doubt over the stories she proceeds to tell, which includes accounts of attending college at the age of 12, working as a call girl, and spending several years in a hospital on the brink of death. The woman describes her practice of taking on, or impersonating, many personalities. The editing technique is one of interruption. Before a story comes to completion, the work will cut to another image of the same woman, in slightly different apparel, telling another story. Often, the same image appears in multiples, or several unique images appear at once. All of the work is shot in varying degrees of close-ups. The narrator continues to confuse the viewer, as at the end of the work when she claims, "I always tell the truth."

This short segment shows Hershman describing the fantasy world she would retreat into during her childhood, and the blurring of the lines between fantasy and reality.

Program Description
This episode of "New Television" features Jeanne C. Finley's "Common Mistakes," Lynn Hershman's "Confessions of a Chameleon," and Woody Vasulka's "Art of Memory."

"Common Mistakes," by Jeanne C. Finley is a politicized look at the notion of mistakes, combining definitions of words such as fallacy, accident, and blunder with a documentary-style presentation of historical events. The piece is approximately 16 minutes long. Directed by Jeanne C. Finley and Peter Kirby.

Lynn Hershman's "Confessions of a Chameleon," features the narration of a single woman who tells multiple and overlapping stories about her life. Are they real, or elaborate fabrication? Produced and directed by Lynn Hershman, the piece is approximately 9 minutes long. Produced and directed by Lynn Hershman. Copyright: Lynn Hershman.

Using Vasulka's manipulation of video technology, "Art of Memory" recontextualizes historical events through their juxtaposition with southwestern desert-scapes. This abbreviated section of his work focuses on the Robert Oppenheimer and his participation in the development of the atomic bomb. The piece is approximately 4 minutes long.

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/Confessions48.HTML