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The New York Times
ARTS AND LEISURE

CS Section 2
Sunday, June 19, 1983

Television
TV VIEW
JOHN J. O'CONNOR

Video Artists Still Seek a Showcase for Their Works

For at least a decade now, especially since the portable videotape camera arrived on the electronics scene and people began tinkering with techniques known as feedback and computerized images, there has been a very special product called "video art". The label is almost irritatingly loose, covering everything from independent documentaries to 90-second spurts of music, from chamber works designed for the delectation of a chosen few to pieces included in museum exhibitions for the curiosity of a vast public. The most common denominator, perhaps, is that the content is tightly controlled by the artist or artists producing the work. A guiding vision can be sensed. These are not assembly-line artifacts coming out of a factory, in Hollywood or New York, for easy mass consumption.
Some, thought hardly all, video artists have been eager to have their work shown on television. They consider the small screen this century's most significant canvas for aspiring artists. One of the most determined members of this group is Jaime Davidovich, president of the Artists Television Network and tireless propounder of the theory that the way to get art on the tube is to stop calling it video and start calling it television. His "network" was developed from Cable SoHo, founded in 1976 to put video art on the public-access channels of Manhattan Cable TV on a regular basis. Mr. Davidovich and others have long been excited about the possibilities of "narrowcasting" within the increased channel capacity of cable. specialized programs can be aimed at specific audiences. The obvious parallel would be the proliferation of specialized magazines in recent years.
While intriguing, the idea is not entirely persuasive. Despite concerted efforts, the video artists have not been exceptionally successful in getting their work onto the home screen. Public television has provided some occasional showcases, most notably in WNET/13's "Video/Film Review" series. Cable's public-access channels are still in operation but have yet to attract substantial audiences. And video artists, no matter how fervent their dedication, are as interested in ratings as are most other producers. In short, except for sporadic ripples of activity in assorted areas, video art has been kept in a kind of limbo, while the new producing/distribution giants like Home Box Office have moved boldly forward toward other goals that have nothing to do with narrowcasting.
Nevertheless, the video artists push on, seemingly undaunted, and they do manage to notch modest advances one in a while. One current example can be found Wednesdays at 9 P.M. on WNYC/Channel 31. During June and July, the station is offering "Videoville," a package of independent video works. June's schedule, a presentation of the Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association, is devote primarily to video artists. The July lineup focuses on independent documentarians, including works already seen on public television: "Presumed Innocent," a look at the Rikers Island detention facility by Stefan Moore and Claude Beller, and "Third Avenue: Only the Strong Survive," a tour of one of New York's more vibrant streets by Keiko Tsuno and Jon Alpert.
The series began a couple of weeks ago with a music-video work made by Merrill Aldighieri and Joe Tripician. A rock group, accompanied by a ragged band of acolytes wrapped in flowing veils, performed on a rocky terrain that turned out to be the farther reaches of Roosevelt Island. A shorter piece by Shalom Gorewitz, also constructed around a music track, used overlapping sounds and multiple images to achieve somewhat ominous effects. All three producers were interviewed in a WNYC studio by a woman who strained mightily to be effervescent but ended up being mostly skittish. One obvious point was avoided: Many of the techniques of these video artists have already been co-opted by the slick visuals that accompany various recording starts on cable's very successful Music Television (MTV) format.
Some of the other artists participating in the series are veterans of the video scene: Bob and Ingrid Weigand, Mark Gilliland, John Sanborn, Kit Fitzgerald and David Keller. And then, on June 29, there will be samples of the handiwork of the peripatetic Mr. Davidovich.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936, Mr. Davidovich moved permanently to this country in 1963. Much of his professional artistic career has been preoccupied with the avant garde, although that is a term that he personally would find meaningless as he continues searching for a popular audience on television. Having perceived that a regular presence on the schedule is essential to developing a loyal audience, Mr. Davidovich has now arranged a "Friday Night Double Feature" on Manhattan Cable TV.

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