GBH Openvault

Artist's Showcase; City Archives

Part of New Television Workshop.

Approximate date: 1977


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Series
Artist's Showcase
Program
City Archives
Series Description

Anthology series of experimental, avant garde video productions. Program titles: "DANCE FOR CAMERA - SHOW I: DISTRICT I and PALE COOL, PALE WARM;" "DANCE FOR CAMERA - SHOW II: TZADDICK;" "DANCE FOR CAMERA - SHOW III: GEORGE'S HOUSE;" "SELECTED WORKS - 1974 - 1975;" "THE GIRL WITH THE FLAXEN HAIR;" "SET OF COINCIDENCE;" "ALL ACROSS BOSTON;" " UNTITLED PERFORMANCE BY ROBERT GOLDMAN;" "QUIDDATAS;" "TELEPORTRAITS;" "FOUR SIDED TAPES;" "AMY LOWELL;" "PRIMORDIAL SOUP;" "HOWARD;" "THIRD TAPE;" "PAST FANTASIES;" "SEMI BUFFET;" "EAST ENDED TAPE;" "A COLOR PIECE FOR TV;" "CONTEXTS AND ONE AND MANY;" "THREE TRANSITIONS;" "CITY SCAPE;" "OUT OF TIME;" "NO TITLE." Series release date: 1975

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."

Asset Type

Broadcast program

Media Type

Video

Subjects
Drama
Ontological-Hysteric Theatre
Experimental theater
Topics
Film and Television
Creators
Foreman, Richard, 1937- (Director)
Susan Dowling (Producer)
Dowling, Susan (Producer)
Contributors
Ward, Melinda ()
Zarrilli, Phillip ()
King, Adam ()
Lazarow, Mike ()
Anderson, Eric ()
Nisks, Joni ()
Gaddis, Pat ()
Olson, Lora ()
Grant, Joan ()
Weise, Richard ()
Kawamura, Lani ()
Berlovitz, Barbara ()
Comer, Mary ()
Westgate, Jene ()
Holmes, Scott ()
Marcus, Steven ()
Silverman, Robin ()
O'Brien, Terrence ()
Western, T. J. ()
Bjornson, Maja ()
Fuller, Susan ()
Pillsbury, Henry ()
Mussnil, Ann ()
Schoch, Carlotta ()
Dillard, Leigh ()
Lassila, Ruth ()
Barnard, Jane ()
Karl, Liz ()
Cowles, Sage ()
Braun, Tom ()
Foley, Melissa ()
Crepeau, Kathleen ()
Wood, Rebecca ()
Isaacson, Pearl ()
Tilli, Carl ()
Pierson, Cynthia ()
Shopmaker, Becky ()
Mattius, Gail ()
Cada, Jim ()
Formanek, Ingrid ()
Galusha, Emily ()
Holonbek, JoAnn ()
Citation
Chicago: “Artist's Showcase; City Archives,” GBH Archives, accessed December 22, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_376DB55FCB26441AB243C5D11E6FF31D.
MLA: “Artist's Showcase; City Archives.” GBH Archives. Web. December 22, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_376DB55FCB26441AB243C5D11E6FF31D>.
APA: Artist's Showcase; City Archives. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_376DB55FCB26441AB243C5D11E6FF31D
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