Series: Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund
Program: Evol
Date: 1985-01-01
Duration: 00:01:29

Subject: Love; Sexuality
People: Oursler, Tony
Copyright Holder: Tony Oursler

Clip Description
Video artist Tony Oursler's "Evol," is a series of sketches in which performers interact with painted, sculptural sets. All the skits are loose commentaries on relationships, love, and sexuality. This short excerpt features Mike Kelley in a sketch featuring a strange x-ray machine and enlarged bones.

Program Description
This episode of "Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund" features "Evol" byTony Oursler. WGBH did not broadcast the work because of its perceived sexual content.

"Evol," 1985, was created by video artist Tony Oursler and is a series of sketches in which performers interact with painted, sculptural sets. Either a performer or a voice off camera reads poetic commentary, riddled with word play, on relationships and other matters. Occasionally, these words are set to music. The interaction between performer and sets repeatedly plays with the logic of scale. A human hand is seen spraying toy army men with a bottle of Windex marked "Love Bomb." A scientist is seen studying sperm under a microscope, and human heads swathed in white cloth to make them look like individual sperm emerge from a black backdrop to chant lethargically, "We could have been brave strong men." All the skits are loose commentaries on relationships, love, and sexuality. There is an absurdist and irreverent quality to the work, which combines grotesque, explicit, and even spooky scenarios with humorous ones. Many of the costumes and sets sport fluorescent colors. The Curator of Media Study, John Minkowsky, is credited with the original conception of producing the work. The music was created by Tony Oursler, Rachel Weber, and Scott Rysler.

"Evol" was created for Media Study (Buffalo, New York). Finishing Funds were provided by the Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund.

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/Evol16.HTML