Complex juxtapositions of sound and image, autobiography, narrative, invented persona, and critique--as well as sharp humor, characterize these tapes. One can understand why, in writing about early video by women artists, Anne Sargent-Wooster called this work the bridge between modernism and post-modernism. As women artists searched for a new language with which to fully express their ideas, video appeared as a new tool, without any formal or aesthetic restrictions.

Post-screening conversation with Nancy Buchanan, Susan Mogul and Andrea Bowers.

Featuring:
Martha Rosler: Domination and the Everyday (1978, 32 min. 10 sec.)
With Augusto Pinochet's Chile as an example, the artist constructs an analysis of the manner in which governmental power controls everyday life, via layered juxtapositions of text crawl, photographs, and a conversation with her young son. As the viewer's attention is constantly fragmented, new insights and questions emerge.

Susan Mogul: Take Off (1974, 10 min.)
Mogul's performance was inspired by Vito Acconci's video Undertone (the artist, seated at a table, imagines a girl to be underneath it). Her friendly confidences are a humorous counterpoint to Acconci's deadpan delivery.

Eleanor Antin: The Little Match Girl Ballet (1975, 26 min. 30 sec.)
Using various personae to explore history as well as contemporary attitudes and events, Eleanor Antin performed in the early 1970s as King, Ballerina, Black Movie Star and Nurse (later, ballerina and movie star merged). The Little Match Girl references Jean Renoir's silent film, La Petite Marchande d'allumettes, but also comments on artistic struggle.

Nancy Angelo: On Joining the Order (1977, 8 min.)
Some videophiles may recognize Angelo's persona from her celebrated 1976 collaborative video, The Nun and the Deviant, made with Candace Compton. In this rarely-viewed tape, Sister Angelica Furiosa explains why she became a nun.

Cynthia Maughan: Thank You, Jesus (1980, 4 min. 30 sec.)
Shown at Documenta in 1976, Cynthia Maughan's pithy videotapes manage to evoke slyly humorous scenarios in less than 5 minutes. Often prop- or drawing-based, they exploit the low-resolution of black and white, reel to reel video.

Lynda Benglis: Female Sensibility (1973, 13 min.)
While the artist and another woman caress one another's faces and kiss, sometimes looking directly at the camera, AM radio jocks wisecrack about women. The voyeuristic qualities of video, the position of the viewer, and the proximity of image and soundtrack weave together to posit various questions.

Nancy Buchanan: These Creatures (1979, 1 min.)
Commissioned by the Long Beach Museum for 30/60: TV Works, this is an anti-ad for patriarchal attitudes.

Ilene Segalove: The Mom Tapes (1975-76, approx 3 min., excerpt) Using the "typical" American home as the site of her investigations, Segalove made a series of short videotapes featuring her mother, who cheerfully obliged her daughter, offering stories and advice, and allowed recording of her daily routines.

Tickets are free but seating is limited. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 213-237-2800 during box office hours.

For student and CalArts alumni, faculty and staff discounts, please call the REDCAT box office at 213-237-2800.