"In 1980s England, the boundaries of video production were pushed further, both in form and content, as a result of the music industry’s influence and of access to domestic video cameras. A leading proponent of the British ‘new wave’ was Gorilla Tapes, a quartet that carved out its space in the hearts and minds of many, satirizing the authoritarian right-wing with fresh documental footage,” says curator Robert Turnock, who selected a set of British videos made in the 1980s to provide a sample of the high level of quality attained by the artists at hand.
artists
Works
Curator's text Robert Turnock, 1990
Iluminated Art
"In the way that medieval monks illuminated texts, we are illuminating an old work with a new quill - television"
This is how Tom Phillip described his work with Peter Greenaway on "A TV Dante". Compared to a text hundreds of years old, television is indeed "a new quill". In term of modern technology, however, television is not new at all. Nor for that matter is video. With any science or technology there are always proponents of advanced, pioneers who force forward the march of progress. This too is true of video.
In 1980's Britain, the frontiers of Video production were pushed backfurther, both in form and content, under the influence of the music industry and the instant access of home video recorders and cameras.
One of the main proponents of the British "new Wave" were "Gorilla Tapes", a foursome who "scratched" their way into the hearts and minds of many by lapoonng the autorithative right using news and documentary footage. With the wealth of readily available video technology David Larcher was able to make his excellent, experimental "anthro-apology" on ten years of this grandmother's life. - And using relatively old tech editing equipment and picture library in Holland, Peter Greenaway made his innovative, multi-layered reworking of Dante's "Inferno".
However, the work presented here cannot be described as "state-of-the-art". It is merely a selection of excellent british work of the eighties. Indeed, the expression "state-of-the-art" is often used when referring to the latest military hardware or office technology, but the work presented here is art. True art is, of course, timeless.
8th Fotoptica Internacional Video Festival. 09 a 15 de Novembro de 1990. p. 56 e p. 57.