VITAL SIGNALS Japanese + American Video Art from the 1960s and '70s Co-presented by Japan Society and EAI As part of PERFORMA 09 Japan Society and EAI present a day of screenings of rarely-seen early Japanese and American video works, and a discussion with artists Takahiko Iimura and Mary Lucier, moderated by Barbara London. Saturday, November 14, 2009 Frank L. Ellsworth Performing Arts Lecture Series Program Schedule: Open Television: 2–4 pm The Language of Technology: 5:45–7:15 pm Artist Discussion: 7:30–8:15 pm Body Acts: 8:30–10:30 pm Japan Society 333 East 47th Street New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212.832.1155 Box Office: 212.715.1258 www.japansociety.org Tickets: For one video screening (includes discussion): $10/$8 Japan society members All-Day Pass (reentry permitted): $20/$15 Japan society members Vital Signals, a program of early video art from the U.S. and Japan, highlights the parallel developments in these countries during the 1960s and '70s. Co-presented Japan Society and EAI, and organized in collaboration with the Yokohama Museum of Art and a team of Japanese curators and scholars, the three-part screening program brings together early Japanese video alongside seminal works from the EAI collection. A special discussion moderated by Barbara London, Associate Curator, Department of Media and Performance Art at the Museum of Modern Art, New York will include artists Takahiko Iimura and Mary Lucier. The introduction of the first consumer-grade video recorder, the Sony "Portapak," in the mid-1960s contributed to a fertile period of creative exploration, as artists and activists engaged with the new video technology. Video by artists based in the U.S. and Europe in the 1960s and '70s, including Nam June Paik, Joan Jonas and Bruce Nauman, is well known internationally. Until now, however, the parallel activities of artists working in Japan, the birthplace of the camcorder and other video technologies, have been screened only rarely. Using a familiar tool kit, these artists explored the nascent medium in unique and innovative ways. An accompanying catalogue and DVD compilation of the Japanese works from this series will be published by EAI at the end of the year. Vital Signals is currently touring the U.S. and Japan. For information on screenings outside New York, please click here. ___________________________________ Open Television   2–4 pm The new medium of video and its inherent accessibility changed the way artists approached the mov­ing image and spurred the growth of communities. The artists presented in this screening saw video as a way to directly engage with culture. This pro­gram includes work by Nam June Paik, Jud Yalkut, Toshio Matsumoto, Fujiko Nakaya, Chris Burden, TVTV, Saburo Muraoka, Tatsuo Kawaguchi, Keiji Uematsu, Ko Nakajima, Shirley Clark, Video Earth and Video Information Center. The Language of Technology   5:45–7:15 pm This section highlights early examples of video art that explored technical developments such as electronic image manipulation and instantaneous play­back. Artists include Nam June Paik, CTG, Gary Hill, Toshio Matsumoto, Katsuhiro Yamaguchi, Keigo Yamamoto, James Byrne, Takahiko Iimura, Kohei Ando and Morihiro Wada. Artist Discussion   7:30–8:15 pm With Takahiko Iimura and an American artist (TBD), moderated by Barbara London, Curator of Video and Digital Media, Museum of Modern Art. Body Acts   8:30–10:30 pm The artists featured in Body Acts use video technology to experiment with physical and emotional gesture in performative works created for the camera. Artists include Joan Jonas, Takahiko Iimura, James Byrne, Norio Imai, William Wegman, Katsuhiro Yamaguchi, Ante Bozanich, Mako Idemitsu, Paul McCarthy, John Baldessari, Hakudo Kobayashi, Mobuhiro Kawanaka and Vito Acconci. For a complete listing of works included in these programs, please click here. ___________________________________ Purchasing Tickets For All Day Passes, please call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon-Fri. 11am-6pm, Weekends 11am-5pm. For one video screening, Buy Tickets Online or call the Japan Society Box Office. ___________________________________ PERFORMA 09 PERFORMA 09 (November 1–22, 2009) is the third edition of the internationally acclaimed biennial of new visual art performance presented by Performa, a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of 20th-century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the 21st century. www.performa-arts.org ___________________________________ About Japan Society Established in 1907, New York's Japan Society is North America's single major producer of high-quality content on Japan for an English-speaking audience. Presenting over 100 events annually, the Society is an internationally recognized nonprofit, nonpolitical organization that provides access to information on Japan, offers opportunities to experience Japanese culture, and fosters sustained and open dialogue on issues important to the U.S., Japan, and East Asia. Since 1953, Japan Society's Performing Arts Program has introduced American audiences to Japan's cutting-edge contemporary performance scene as well as its traditional dance, music and theater through more than 600 individual programs. From organizing and producing North American tours for Japanese artists and commissioning non-Japanese artists to create work based on Japan to seeding projects like artist residencies and collaborations, the Performing Arts program has been a pioneer in connecting the performing arts of Japan with audiences, communities and artists in the U.S. www.japansociety.org ___________________________________ About EAI Founded in 1971, Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is one of the world's leading nonprofit resources for video art. A pioneering advocate for media art and artists, EAI's core program is the distribution and preservation of a major collection of over 3,500 new and historical media works by artists. EAI fosters the creation, exhibition, distribution and preservation of video art and digital art. EAI's activities include a preservation program, viewing access, educational services, extensive online resources, and public programs such as artists' talks, exhibitions and panels. The Online Catalogue is a comprehensive resource on the artists and works in the EAI collection, and also features extensive materials on exhibiting, collecting and preserving media art: www.eai.org Electronic Arts Intermix 535 West 22nd Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10011 (212) 337-0680 tel (212) 337-0679 fax info@eai.org ___________________________________ Vital Signals has been organized and produced by Ann Adachi of EAI. The video programs were curated by Ann Adachi and Yukie Kamiya, Chief Curator, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan, and Hirofumi Sakamoto, Professor, Wakkanai Hokusei Gakuen University, Hokkaido, Japan. This program is supported, in part, by the Japan-US Friendship Commission.