Series: New Television Workshop
Program: Video Variations
Date: 1970-01-01
Subject: Image-processed works; Boston Symphony Orchestra
Copyright Holder: Boston Symphony Orchestra?

Clip Description
Host Russell Connor introduces these works by video artists, set to music performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra:

Tsai Wen-Ying: A piece exploring pattern and color saturation. Music: The first movement of Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony no. 55, "The Schoolmaster," conducted by William Steinberg.

Constantine Manos: Includes still portrait photographs of individuals in what appears to be a European agricultural community. Music: Arnold Schoenberg, sections of Five Pieces for the Orchestra, op. 16; conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

Stan Vanderbeek: Using a videosynthesizer, Vanderbeek layers images of interpretive dancers. Music: Maurice Ravel, music from "Daphnis and Chloe," conducted by Claudio Abbado.

Douglas David: This is a work about numbers. Children are pictured painting numbers in the WGBH parking lot ; adults perform equations on blackboards, and numbers on street signs are shown. The effect is a steady stream of numbers. Music: Johann Christian Bach, second and third movements of Symphony for Double Orchestra.

Jackie Cassen: In this work dazzling colors break away to reveal children, American flags, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and anticommunist political banners. Music: third movement to Symphony #3, op. 55, "Eroica."

Russell Connor: This work features a topless dancing girl, bright colors, and sheet music. Richard Wagner, Siegfried's Rhine Journey from Act II of "Die Gotterdammerung."

James Seawright: Dancers bathed in color and light seem to swim across the space. The piece was created with Mimi Garrad. Music: Arnold Schoenberg, two pieces of Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16.

Nam June Paik: This piece features rays of light, the shape of the monitor, faces, a bust of Beethoven, shaking and twittering, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and finally, a toy piano that burns and collapses at the completion of the work. This last piece is also known as "Electronic Opera No. 2." Music: Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 4 in G, op. 58.

Some of the featured artists were in residence at M.I.T.'s Center for Advanced Visual Studies. Produced and directed by Fred Barzyk.

Program Description
Host Russell Connor introduces these works by video artists, set to music performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra:

Tsai Wen-Ying: A piece exploring pattern and color saturation. Music: The first movement of Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony no. 55, "The Schoolmaster," conducted by William Steinberg.

Constantine Manos: Includes still portrait photographs of individuals in what appears to be a European agricultural community. Music: Arnold Schoenberg, sections of Five Pieces for the Orchestra, op. 16; conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

Stan Vanderbeek: Using a videosynthesizer, Vanderbeek layers images of interpretive dancers. Music: Maurice Ravel, music from "Daphnis and Chloe," conducted by Claudio Abbado.

Douglas David: This is a work about numbers. Children are pictured painting numbers in the WGBH parking lot ; adults perform equations on blackboards, and numbers on street signs are shown. The effect is a steady stream of numbers. Music: Johann Christian Bach, second and third movements of Symphony for Double Orchestra.

Jackie Cassen: In this work dazzling colors break away to reveal children, American flags, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and anticommunist political banners. Music: third movement to Symphony #3, op. 55, "Eroica."

Russell Connor: This work features a topless dancing girl, bright colors, and sheet music. Richard Wagner, Siegfried's Rhine Journey from Act II of "Die Gotterdammerung."

James Seawright: Dancers bathed in color and light seem to swim across the space. The piece was created with Mimi Garrad. Music: Arnold Schoenberg, two pieces of Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16.

Nam June Paik: This piece features rays of light, the shape of the monitor, faces, a bust of Beethoven, shaking and twittering, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and finally, a toy piano that burns and collapses at the completion of the work. This last piece is also known as "Electronic Opera No. 2." Music: Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 4 in G, op. 58.

Some of the featured artists were in residence at M.I.T.'s Center for Advanced Visual Studies. Produced and directed by Fred Barzyk.

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/Video341.HTML