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(cid:9)(cid:9) MachineMedia 1 File:Machmoma.doc 9/00 Machine Vision Catalogue: SFMOMA News Jan/Feb 1996 STEINA AND WOODY VASULKA: Machine Media February 2 to March31 Inan erawhenadvancesinelectronic communications technologyarehaving aglobal impact sociallyand culturally, Steina andWoodyVasulka:MachineMedia, aretrospective oftwo ofthemostinfluential figuresin the development ofvideoart,explorestheroleofthemachine inthecreative process,both summarizing theevolution ofelectronic art andanticipatingnew directions. Organized chronologically, theexhibition presents eightlarge-scale installations andthree, sixty-minuteprograms ofvideotape. Theseworksinclude someoftheartists'earliest explorations withvideotechnology, suchastheuse of"horizontal drift" inMatrix, 1970-72, acollaborative workthatdemonstrates the fluidity oftheelectronic signal asitexpands tofillamulti-monitorpicturefield. Recent works, created bytheartists individually, showtwo very different veinsofinvestigation, in Steina's, apreoccupation withlandscape andorganic forms;inWoody's, anavid interestintheinherentcreative (anddestructive) potential ofthemachine. Steina's large-scale, two channel installationBorealis, 1993, presents soundsandimages recordedbytheartist inIceland onfourlargetranslucent screens (wherethe imageisvisible fromboth sidesofthescreen) and engulfs theviewerwith vastcrashing waves, rivers, Cliffs, steam, and spray,evoking themagnitude ofnature. Bycontrast The Brotherhood, TableIII, 1994, aninteractiveinstallationbyWoody,ismadeupofvideoprojectionapparatus andsurplusmaterials frommilitary sites(such asLosAlamos) andexplores, withitsunderlyingthemeofviolence, theparadox oftheuse ofelectronic mediainbothart andmilitaryandscientificarenas. TheVasulkas arewellknown for theirinventivecontributions tovideotechnology. Artifacts, 1980for example, documents thecapacity oftheDigitalImageArticulator, atooldesignedbyWoodyVasulka and Jeffrey Schier in thelate 1970sthatforeshadowed digital imaging toolsofthepresent. Thisworkshowstheparticular waysin whichdigital imaging can reconfigure anobject, inthiscase, theartist'shand. Reflectingwhathecallshis "dialogue with themachine," Woodyexplains the titleofthisworkinthevideotape: "ImeanIhavetosharethe creative process withthemachine. Itisresponsible for toomanyelementsin thiswork. Theseimages cometoyou astheycametome-inaspiritofexploration." SimilarlySteina's earlyexplorations ofvideo-imaging devices led her tocreatetheseries "MachineVision."Allvision, 1976, aworkfromthis series on viewintheexhibition, consists ofamechanicalvideodevice thatviewstheMuseum spacethrough amirroredsphere. Museum viewers seethemselveson avideomonitor asrecorded bythecamera through the sphere's reflection, providing themwith a new experienceofelectronicspace. Amusician bytraining, Steina wasborn inReykjavik,Iceland,in 1940. ShemetWoodyVasulka (born 1937in Brno,Czechoslovakia), afilmmaker inPrague, intheearly 1960s. Thecouple married andmovedtoNewYorkin 1965,wherethrough Woody's filmcontacts, theydiscoveredvideo. "Itwaslikefalling inlove;" saidSteina, "I neverlooked back."Togethertheyattracted anever-expandingcircle ofartists who gathered in theirlofttosee theirworksinprogress. Insearch ofalargerspace,theyfounded theKitchen (literallyanabandonedkitchen intheoldBroadway Central Hotel) in 1971, a "LiveAudienceTestLaboratory" for artists. TheVasulkas continued tocollaborateon projects until 1974when theirinterests diverged. Woodyfocused on aproject ofexamining thevocabularyofelectronic images, whileSteinabeganbuildingimagemachinesthatcouldexplore theautonomousimagingpotentialofthe camera. In 1980, theVasulkasmovedtoSantaFe, NewMexico, wheretheycurrentlyliveandwork. Their achievementsinclude exhibitionsinternationally. Theyhavebeentherecipients offunding from,amongother sources, theNationalEndowment for theArts, theCorporation for Public Broadcasting, and theGuggenheim (cid:9)(cid:9) MachineMedia 2 File:Machmoma.doc Foundation;andnumerous awards including theAmerican Film InstituteMayaDerenAwardandtheSiemens MediaArtPrize. Steina andWoody Uasulka:MachineMediais co-organizedbyRobert Riley, SFMOMA curatorofmediaarts, and MaritaSturken, independent curatorandassistant professor,AnnenbergSchoolfor Communication, Universityof SouthernCalifornia. The exhibitionismadepossiblebyagenerous grantfrom theNational Endowment for the Arts, aFederal agency. Thecatalogue Steina and WoodyUasulka: MachineMediaincludes essaysbytheexhibitioncurators, byWoody Vasulka, andbyMaureen Turimand ScottNygren. Available attheMuseum Store. Inconjunction with thisexhibition, theMuseum willpresentSystemAesthetics: WorksfromthePermanent Collectionin thefourthfloorgalleries January 24toMarch 31. WoodyVasulka Didactic Video, 1975 Videostills Steina Vasulka Lilith, 1987 Videostill WoodyVasulka The Commission, 1983 Videostills OPENING EXHIBITION End