Series: Artist's Showcase
Program: City Archives
Date: 1977-01-01
Subject: Experimental theater; Ontological Hysteric Theater
Copyright Holder: Walker Arts Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Clip Description
"City Archives" was written and directed by Richard Foreman, founder and director of the Ontological Hysteric Theater. He serves as the narrator for this work, discussing the power of "the foreign" and images, talking directly into a microphone in a purposely stilted manner and addressing questions to the viewer. A sort of classroom overpopulated by adults sets the stage for the work. Phrases are written and erased on a blackboard, and women gaze out a window, physically supporting planks of wood. The cast gathers around the makeshift bedside of a woman and wanders through what appears to be a library. The performers appear in a small garden and at a movie theater, speaking only to occasionally echo Foreman's remarks and with elaborately choreographed movements and stillnesses. Foreman's text questions strategies for documenting experience, the notion of place and a city, and the process of writing. Produced by the Minnesota Public Programming Corporation. Directed by Richard Foreman.

Originally created with the support of the Walker Arts Center, "City Archives" was broadcast as an episode of the WNET Television Laboratory's series "Video/Film Review," ca. 1979. At WGBH, it was broadcast as part of "Artist's Showcase."

"Artist's Showcase" was a series designed to showcase video art and experimental work from WGBH. The program ran on Sunday evenings at 11 P.M., from the fall of 1976 through 1982. In the early 1970's, "Artist's Showcase" was the only consistent broadcast outlet for many of the Workshop productions. Most materials of broadcast quality created at WGBH in the mid-1970's were shown as part of this series. Additionally, earlier video art experiments and segments of related shows, such as "Mixed Bag" or "What's Happening Mr. Silver" were broadcast under these auspices. This series was also a broadcast outlet for a handful of works by video artists that were not created at WGBH but only acquired for this purpose. Some compilation reels showing highlights of Workshop activity were also broadcast.

Program Description
"City Archives" was written and directed by Richard Foreman, founder and director of the Ontological Hysteric Theater. He serves as the narrator for this work, discussing the power of "the foreign" and images, talking directly into a microphone in a purposely stilted manner and addressing questions to the viewer. A sort of classroom overpopulated by adults sets the stage for the work. Phrases are written and erased on a blackboard, and women gaze out a window, physically supporting planks of wood. The cast gathers around the makeshift bedside of a woman and wanders through what appears to be a library. The performers appear in a small garden and at a movie theater, speaking only to occasionally echo Foreman's remarks and with elaborately choreographed movements and stillnesses. Foreman's text questions strategies for documenting experience, the notion of place and a city, and the process of writing. Produced by the Minnesota Public Programming Corporation. Directed by Richard Foreman.

Originally created with the support of the Walker Arts Center, "City Archives" was broadcast as an episode of the WNET Television Laboratory's series "Video/Film Review," ca. 1979. At WGBH, it was broadcast as part of "Artist's Showcase."

"Artist's Showcase" was a series designed to showcase video art and experimental work from WGBH. The program ran on Sunday evenings at 11 P.M., from the fall of 1976 through 1982. In the early 1970's, "Artist's Showcase" was the only consistent broadcast outlet for many of the Workshop productions. Most materials of broadcast quality created at WGBH in the mid-1970's were shown as part of this series. Additionally, earlier video art experiments and segments of related shows, such as "Mixed Bag" or "What's Happening Mr. Silver" were broadcast under these auspices. This series was also a broadcast outlet for a handful of works by video artists that were not created at WGBH but only acquired for this purpose. Some compilation reels showing highlights of Workshop activity were also broadcast.

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/City363.HTML