Statements from Early Participants

In 2001, Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) and the Kitchen both celebrated their 30th anniversaries. To commemorate this landmark through the Kinetic History project, EAI invited early participants in these events to write statements about their involvement in this unique history of electronic art. This page contains three of the resulting statements, from the Kitchen's first director, Robert Stearns, the Kitchen's co-founders, Steina and Woody Vasulka, and early Kitchen programmer Dimitri Devyatkin. Full versions of these texts may be read by clicking on the appropriate links.

Robert Stearns, Statement (2001)

Written by the Kitchen's first director on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Kitchen and Electronic Arts Intermix, this personal narrative describes the first years of the Kitchen.

 

Dimitri Devyatkin, "The House of the Horizontal Synch" (2001)

Written by Dimitri Devyatkin to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Kitchen and Electronic Arts Intermix, this personal account captures the spirit and activities of the organization in its early years. Tracing events, individuals and anecdotes in the Kitchen's early history, Devyatkin describes the important role of Howard Wise in supporting the Kitchen, as well as his support for the experimental art scene.

 

Steina & Woody Vasulka, Statement

In this one-page text by Kitchen co-founders Steina and Woody Vasulka, the artists describe their early investigations into electronic art.They describe how they learned the principles of electronically generating and processing images and manipulating the video signal itself. They address the important role of tools and equipment such as the portapak and the sound synthesizer, and how their experimentation led to the establishment of The Kitchen as a space to show video and other electronic arts.