This TV Couple
Takes Medium
Very Seriously
9 See, "Make Your Own Television Show"
in .Sunday's Upstate.
By BETTY UTTERBACK
D&C Staff Writer
Woody Vasulka plunked an old lamp in front of a blue
backdrop .
"Ah, that's our actor," he said training a television camera
on it .
Steina Vasulka wheeled another small camera around and
came to rest on the brooding face of a young girl across the
room .
One-by-one they superimposed images on a television
screen .
"We can go up to six cameras," Woody said, little beads of
perspiration popping out on his brow .
He punched buttons on one of many black boxes and the
picture on the television screen moved and wavered. The face
of the girl was still visible - masklike . She moved slightly and
the whole image dissolved into a kaleidoscope .
The Vasulkas are husband and wife, and they are relaxed,
obviously accustomed to working together .
"Do you have a coax-t?" .
"Yeah, could you give me that feedback?"
Steina punches more buttons and sound waves are
transmitted into sine waves on the screen . A low pulsing sound
becomes a hum and evolves into a high pitched tone . It sounds
like a television set that has gone on the blink.
Things are obviously building up to a climax when
somebody comes in with pizzas and soda, and they all stop .
"We've been doing this
for four years," Woody said,
collapsing, on a couch and
dipping into the pizza. "It
took us about three years to
find out what the hell we
were doing."
The Vasulkas make
electronic pictures and they
are visiting Rochester to
demonstrate this new art
form . Yesterday they
conducted a workshop at
Portable Channel on Prince
Street. Today they will
produce, "The Electronic
Image," to be shown on
Channel 21's Homemade TV
series at 10 :30 tonight.
"We will show our
ingredients, put them
together in a recipe, then
cook a while," Woody
promised when asked what
tonight's show is about.
Comparing their work to WOODY VASULKA
cooking goes back to the
Vasulkas first efforts in experimental video . They founded
"The Kitchen," an electronic theater in New York City .
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'~ "There was no stage for such a scene," Woody said. "it
provided an electronic stage ."
They use cameras, oscillators, frequencies and timing to
preate their abstract art.
; "It is a development in time," Woody explained.
*ith a simple object and build up a collage. We're "We start
trying to
txnd the behavior patterns but we're only in the primitive
stages :"
The Vasulka's feel the audience reacts to the images
-- trying to identify them. That is the "real" sequence, fast
;t
then
mes the "dream" sequence of remembered images, and that
*'followed by the "hallucination" sequence .
"Sometimes people put names on our pieces," Woody
laid . "We never do - except as a joke."
, . Steina was born in Iceland, studied violin at the music
hool in Reykjavik and the Conservatory of
fhe played violin in the Icelandic SympbonyMusiOrchestra
c i n Prague .
and
*ee-lanced in New YorkCity.
,+ ; Woody was born in Czechoslovakia, has
a background in
gineerying and studied at the Film Academy in Prague. He
oduced short films for movie theaters in Czechoslovakia on
i'wery mixed" subjects. He recalled that he did a film on
,lcoholism, one on changes of the suburbs, a travelogue on
Veland .
"Television on Czechoslovakia was government-owned and
iE?verything had a political flavor," Woody said. "Here it was so
different. It seemed so free .
` Of course, we had no commercials ." he added. "I
arned English from watching commercials here. The money
j~ev have presents the opportunity to provide the
strongest
Jpessage - a one-to-one confrontation with the viewer ."
Woody hedges when asked if his work in television evolved
~'to his interest in video art.
"Why don't you say your documentaries have nothing
~hatever to do with what you're doing now?" Steina said
` fhially .
Woody nodded .
"'this work represents a revolution, not an evolution," be
~p3'eed .
'' Steina ofteT works with the visuals and Woody with the
P+'ndtracks but they stress they are a team - trying to relate
~~dio and video.
In the summer of 1972, the Vasulkas were artists in
residence at the National Center for Experiments in Television
w San Francisco . Before joining Media Studios, Inc. in Buffalo
!i~ast fall, they were artists in residence at WNET's
jtperimental laboratory in New York City.
"We're now working on tool development," Woody said.
We'd like to put all these big boxes into little boxes. We don't
imlieve in big studios and massive equipment . Everybody
g' uld have the tools and they should have them in their
l~hies.
F.,, "Television means broadcasting but it's not going to be
at way," he went on. "Television is 40 or 50 years old,
eadv an old invention ."
", The Vasulkas envision a time when your televigion set win
b old-fashioned and the very walls of your home can be
COnced by three di-ersionat elere}ronic images.
'' People from Portable Channel workshops . st'ldorts from
~, ,e iJ^iversity of Rochester and St. Jo1+n Figher College
ioofm-ed to arrive, curious to learn something about this new
corm .
':=:The Vasntya's drifted bsek to their cprnorps and boxes -
$ban becoming immersed in their myriad of buttons .
Ar7RACT ART
From IC The show runs through Feb-
this movement . It can only ruary 17th at the Memorial
hoped "hat the more boring Art Gallery, 490 University
ani:estations will be short Avenue in Rochester. Gallery
'ved and that in the future it hours are Sunday 1-5, Tues-
ill not be a triune for the ar- day 10-9 and Wednesday
st himself to get involved . through Saturday 10-5.
