Ira Schneider

I made my 1st video in 1977 in collaboration w/ Steve Estes. This bk covers the time right up to before this. Video Art, then, was very new & involved the use of pretty clunky equipment. If there were camcorders, I didn't have access to one until around 1981. We used "port-a-paks" - a reel-to-reel video deck that weighed about 25 pounds that one carried w/ a strap over the shoulder. This was attached by cable to a camera. Skimming thru this now I see John Sturgeon. Cd this be the same John Sturgeon I know?! I didn't realize he was in this bk! It was all so fresh then! So one gets the distortions of Nam June Paik, the multi-channel installations of Beryl Korot & Frank Gillette, the animation of Keith Sonnier, the connection w/ dance thru Skip Sweeney and Joanne Kelly, the body art performances of Vito Acconci, etc..… (mere)