Acting
Produced by the National Endowment for the Arts, along with the Jerome Foundation, this showcase is hour-long collection of shorts from six prominent video artists, all commissioned to the state of Minnesota.
In this video of an ad-hoc performance, Skip Blumberg shouts the word “money” at passersby on Prince Street in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood. As the crew attempts to mollify concerned police officers, the video becomes an early document of the establishment’s response to video cameras in public space.
In JGLNG, Blumberg achieves a graphic visual composition that cunningly encircles both abstraction and documentation. With an economy of means, he renders the ordinary extraordinary, superimposing two recorded images of a single event -- a juggler juggling.
This entertaining collaboration between Skip Blumberg and Jules Backus showcases award-winning whistling performances at the First International Whistling Festival in Carson City, Nevada. The small video cameras and informal style of the makers brings the viewer up close to these eccentric but virtuoso musicians.
Professional interviewers talk about the art of interviewing.
In his book "1984", George Orwell saw the television of the future as a control instrument in the hands of Big Brother. Right at the start of the much-anticipated Orwellian year, Paik and Co. were keen to demonstrate satellite TV's ability to serve positive ends-- Namely, the intercontinental exchange of culture, combining both highbrow and entertainment elements. A live broadcast shared between WNET TV in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, linked up with broadcasters in Germany and South Korea, reached a worldwide audience of over 10 or even 25 million (including the later repeat transmissions).
Filmed in New York City, the documentary follows young competitors preparing for the Double Dutch Championship held at Lincoln Center’s Fountain Plaza. Observing practices, performances, and conversations with the participants, the film highlights the athletic skill, coordination, and teamwork involved in the competitive jump-rope sport while allowing the athletes to speak for themselves.
Gil Scott-Heron goes to the deepest and most personal goal of the activist to clear up the message of his hit 1970 song... the first revolution takes place in your mind. [Overview Courtesy of Skip's Classic Vids]
Colored bars and other shapes travel across objects inside the rooms of a house.
Friends and colleagues (including Yoko Ono and Merce Cunningham) of Nam June Paik share their thoughts about the groundbreaking multimedia artist in this series of candid interviews filmed by Skip Blumberg at Paik's memorial service. This tribute to Paik also includes "Bonus Art Video," in which 17 New York City artists discuss Paik's work, and the short educational film "Lessons from the Video Artist."
A wonderful and humorous example of early image processing, Parry Teasdale and Carol Vontobel perform to camera as their faces are morphed together, forming an image of one person. The exercise is repeated by Nancy Cain and Skip Blumberg as the music speeds up.
