Commercial for Myself

Lynn Hershman Leeson

1978, 46 sec, color, sound

Posing as a talking head standing in for the artist Lynn Hershman in her absence, Hershman Leeson advertises her own performance practice in the Bay area and shares a brief reflection on the human impact of what she describes as the “new digital era.” Finally, she invites viewers to respond to...

Desire Inc.

Lynn Hershman Leeson

1990, 25:59 min, color, sound

Hershman Leeson aired advertisements on television seducing viewers to respond. Those who replied to her ads were interviewed about their desire to meet another person under the guise of fantasy, the footage from these interviews woven into a narrative about the nature of desire.

Paul Revere

Richard Serra with Joan Jonas 

1971, 7:25 min, b&w, sound, 16 mm film on HD video

Using an historical lantern-communication system based on light and sound signals, the film addresses fundamental problems and questions of nonverbal information exchange. Working with Joan Jonas, Serra discusses the phrase “One, if by land, and two, if by sea,” the secret signal used by the...

With Special Thanks

Burt Barr 

1986, 5:29 min, color, sound

"In July I hid several credit cards in a planter on the roof of the building where I live. I vowed to abstain. But in ten days I was desperate." So writes Barr in With Special Thanks, his wry commentary on American consumer culture. In this comic homage to consumerism, the camera pans over a...