"Video Maze"

"Video Maze" an exhibition of closed-circuit electronic sculpture by Electron Movers, at the Everson Museum of Art, September 26 - October 22, 1975. Curated by Richard Simmons. From the Press Release of the Everson Museum: The exhibition is described as participatory electronic sculpture and will utilize the museum goer in its many compositions and 'games'. The group's main concern is to establish and explore the realm of the electronic arts. There is great emphasis placed on the learning processed and perceptual development within the group and in certain pieces that the group executes. They are not concerned with established narrative formats of the communications media, but are trying to explore the intersections of many disciplines. Video is eclectic in nature - video is a combination of many modes of operation from other media. It even takes on the appearance of other aesthetics. Video can 'look like' drawing, painting, sculpture and film and it is all of these things. The potential of the video camera is the potential of the paint brush. The group of siz artists, Robert and Dorothy Jungels, Laurie McDonals, Alan Powell, Dennis Hlynsky and Ed Tannenbaum came together from varies artistic backgrounds because of common aesthetic interests and the need for collaboration on works and performances. Since the electronic arts require relatively expensive equipment and a variety of skills and knowledge to operate that equipment, it was necessary for the group to consolidate financial assets. Perhaps the greatest need that is fulfilled by the group concerns the opportunity for artists to interact and grow from each other's experiences. A distribution of responsibilities makes it easier for each individual to have more time to pursue his or her own personal work. The video maze is literally a maze that participants walk through and engage themselves in various video games. The maze is constructed to visually integrate spaces of different sizes and shapes and different processes, using the monitor to exhibit the end product, the altered environment. Upon entering the maze one is confronted by a monitor displaying video feedback produced in another section of the maze by someone else manipulating a camera pointed into a monitor. In another part of the maze a small drawing of the interior of a room is monitored in an actual room sized cubicle. When a person stands in the cubicle, his image is superimposed on the drawing. Therefore a new environment is created for the viewer that enables him to experiment with the three-dimensional spaces to two dimensional spaces transferral. Dunking for apples uses a hyrdophone (under water microphone) to monitor the produced sounds in another part of the maze. Review in the Syracuse Herald American, October 19, 1975.

Year: 
1975