Responds to Fredric Jameson's 1987 article "Reading without Interpretation: Postmodernism and the Videotext." Argues that video art encourages self-analysis and allows for a critical examination of culture and that video art is polemical in that it creates strategies whereby the viewers are disoriented and required to think about their…

Interviews video artist David Garcia, who offers his definition of video art, separating it from other related media such as television. Argues that video art is more about light and time than it is about narrative. Discusses the role of appropriation and the collage element in video. Offers a loose definition of what constitutes a successful…

Presents an informal discussion with composer John Cage which includes his response to George Maciunas' work, his recollections of Marcel Duchamp, the complex relationship between inelegant material and revealing works of art, neo-Dada and neo-Fluxus, Wittgenstein and the artist's ultimate responsibility to initiate a change in the viewer or…

Examines the interdependence of language and image in a poster series by Shosaku Arakawa and relates the displacement of writing from the book page to his canvases or posters to theories of performative language to show that his work is itself performance. (DF)

Shows fundamental interconnections between video art and the history of avant-garde abstractionism during the 20th century; for example, as reflected in the work of experimental filmmakers like Stan Brakhage. Maintains that a specific body of film and video works has explored the issue of abstraction as a means to define their respective media.…

Discusses literary video as a genre in which text and image are brought together, not kept separate as in broadcast television. Argues that the fact that video can distort images much more radically than film means that the merger of text and image promotes a more extensive exploration of visible language than possible in any other media. (SR)

Recounts when the Fluxus community first became self-consciously aware of itself during early European concert tours. Provides insights into criteria that delineate European and American Fluxus performances. Discusses use of chance procedure by members of the group, their debts to John Cage, and the relationship between the audience and the…

Presents an interview with Nam June Paik, a seminal figure in video art, who candidly discusses his working processes and values. Offers his comments on such diverse problems as technology, cost, collaboration, MTV, and the artist's ego. Discusses also the values and the artists associated with the artistic movement Fluxus. (SR)

Discusses interrelations between painting and video art. Argues that once the surface of the painting is thought of in relation to the membrane of the eye as if the painting's surface were part of the eye itself, the painting's surface would have to be thought of as a membrane of visible excitation that is hard to separate from vision. (SR)

Presents an interview with videographer Carole Anne Klonarides that explores her manipulation of space, time, and visual texture, which often results in an altered sense of history. Notes how her goal to create believable sequences together with her desire to move beyond the stereotypical uses and formats of contemporary television show the…