TVTV,  TVTV Looks at the Oscars, 1976, color, 59 min
Jonas Mekas,  Award Presentation to Andy Warhol, 1964, b&w, 12 min

Monday, February 22, 2010
6:30 pm

Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI)
535 West 22nd Street, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10011
www.eai.org

Admission free
Please RSVP: info@eai.org

While the snows of winter fall across the Northeast, it's award season again in sun-drenched Hollywood. In the spirit of this annual ritual, EAI invites you to a special screening featuring two rarely seen historical works that respond to idea of the award show: TVTV Looks at the Oscars (1976) by pioneering guerrilla television collective TVTV, and Award Presentation to Andy Warhol (1964) by legendary experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas.

Influential video collective TVTV (Top Value Television) defined the guerrilla TV documentary movement of the 1970s with its alternative journalistic techniques and use of portable, low-tech video equipment. TVTV Looks at the Oscars, TVTV's fifty-nine minute exploration of Hollywood's annual awards ritual, mixes irreverent documentary with deadpan comedy. Lily Tomlin stars as a fictional character watching the televised Oscar ceremony at home. Tomlin, nominated for best supporting actress in Robert Altman's Nashville in 1975, is also seen as she attends the actual awards ceremony. With Tomlin serving as a fulcrum between Hollywood insiders—including Michael Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Milos Forman, Lee Grant, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg and many others—and outsiders, TVTV records the lead up to and letdown after the ceremony, revealing the vagaries of fame and stardom.

The screening will begin with Award Presentation to Andy Warhol by Jonas Mekas, a major figure in American avant-garde cinema from the 1950s through the present. When Andy Warhol decided not to accept Film Culture magazine's annual Independent Film award in person, Mekas decided to present the award at Warhol's Factory and make a film of the occasion to show at the Award Presentation show. Warhol gathered some of his Superstars for the shoot and Ivy Nicholson's young son presented the award, a basket of mixed fruit, to Warhol. Among those present were Baby Jane Holzer, Gerard Malanga, Ivy Nicholson, Naomi Levine and Gregory Battcock.

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

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs