New Television Workshop Collection

New Television Workshop Collection Program MaterialsSpecials, Pilots, and Fills



Video Variations

Copyright Date:
1970?

Copyright Holder:
Boston Symphony Orchestra?

Materials Date:
1969-1972

Artists:
Wen-Ying, Tsai
Manos, Constantine
Vanderbeek, Stan
David, Douglas
Connor, Russell
Cassen, Jackie
Seawright, James
Paik, Nam June

Extent:
1 videoreel of 1 (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 2 in.
1 videoreel of 1 (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 2 in.
1 videocassette of 1 (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 3/4 in.
1 videocassette of 1 (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 3/4 in.
1 videocassette of 1 (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 3/4 in.
1 videocassette of 1 (60 min.) : sd., col. ; 3/4 in.
1 folder

Background:
Some of the featured artists were in residence at M.I.T.'s Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

Scope:
Includes multiple 2" masters and 3/4" screening tapes.
One folder contains correspondence, a contract, and a newspaper article.

Host Russell Connor introduces these works by video artists, set to music performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra:

Tsai Wen-Ying: A piece exploring pattern and color saturation.

Constantine Manos: Includes still portrait photographs of individuals in what appears to be a European agricultural community.

Stan Vanderbeek: Using a videosynthesizer, Vanderbeek layers images of interpretive dancers.

Douglas David: This is a work about numbers. Children are pictured painting numbers in the WGBH parking lot ; adults perform equations on blackboards, and numbers on street signs are shown. The effect is a steady stream of numbers.

Jackie Cassen: In this work dazzling colors break away to reveal children, American flags, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and anticommunist political banners.

Russell Connor: This work features a topless dancing girl, bright colors, and sheet music.

James Seawright: Dancers bathed in color and light seem to swim across the space. The piece was created with Mimi Garrad.

Nam June Paik: This piece features rays of light, the shape of the monitor, faces, a bust of Beethoven, shaking and twittering, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and finally, a toy piano that burns and collapses at the completion of the work. This last piece is also known as "Electronic Opera No. 2."

Tsai Wen-Ying -- The first movement of Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony no. 55, "The Schoolmaster," conducted by William Steinberg.

Stan Vanderbeek -- Maurice Ravel, music from "Daphnis and Chloe," conducted by Claudio Abbado.

Constantine Manos -- Arnold Schoenberg, sections of Five Pieces for the Orchestra, op. 16; conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

Douglas David -- Johann Christian Bach, second and third movements of Symphony for Double Orchestra.

Jackie Cassen -- third movement to Symphony #3, op. 55, "Eroica."

Russell Connor -- Richard Wagner, Siegfried's Rhine Journey from Act II of "Die Gotterdammerung."

James Seawright -- Arnold Schoenberg, two pieces of Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16.

Nam June Paik -- Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 4 in G, op. 58.



Directors:
Barzyk, Fred
Atwood, David (Associate Director)

Producers:
Barzyk, Fred
Chiesa, Dorothy (Associate Producer)

Coproducers:
WGBH, Boston
Boston Symphony Orchestra

Funder:
National Endowment for the Arts

Performers:
Garrad, Mimi (Dancer)
Jouhet, Irene (Dancer)
Tappan, Olivia (Electronic Opera No. 2)

Subjects:
Music

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Genres:
Image-processed works
Music


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