On
June 12, 1971, thirty minutes of live network broadcast air time
was granted to writer and artist Douglas
Davis by WTOP-TV in Washington DC. Viewers were invited to call
in to the station and participate in a live electronic performance.
Routed through either an oscilloscope or one of the Paik-Abe or
Eric Siegel synthesizers, the wave pattern of their voice would
effect the movement of the images on screen, translating timbre
and pitch into rolls and glitches on the screen. Douglas’s
so-called Electronic Hokkadim—a name derived from a collaborative
African musical process in which singers contribute different notes—was
one of the first opportunities for an artist to access the enormous
communicative potential of broadcast television. Douglas televised
live images of spectators at the Corcoran Gallery, in addition to
videotapes of contemporary artists like Charlotte
Moorman, Bruce
Nauman, and Allan Kaprow. |
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This page contains a reproduction of the official program of the Electronic Hokkadim. The document may be viewed in a larger format by clicking on the ‘Read Program’ link.
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