The Western Front

Record Description

Programme

Media

Type of Production

Western Front Production

Support

Artist in Residence

Number of Copies

6

Length

360 minutes

Content Description

Infermental, the first international magazine produced in video format, was started in 1980 by Gabor and Vera Body. Issue six was edited by Hank Bull and Vera Body, supervised by Gerard Couty, and included 59 artists from 25 countries. It was screened at the Western Front on February 8, 1987.

The tapes are divided into six categories and contain work by the following artists and groups:

(1) Satellite Control: Skip Blumberg, John Goff, Ken Feingold, Laurie McDonald, Jean-Claude Ruggirello, Rafael Montanez Oritz, Volker Anding, Taeko Kitajima, David Rimmer, TV Bob and Dave McIntosh with Dave Simpson, Anka Schmid and Tania Stscklin, and Jean-Pierrre Trudel and Mario Bedard;

(2) Poetical Economy: Art d’Ameublement pour les Bourgeois Nouveaux, Kouichi Tabata, Ute Aurand and Ulrike Pfeiffer, Lotty Rosenfeld, Morrie Warshawski, Gary Hill, Sascha Wonders and Gunter Hirt, Marty St. James and Anne Wilson, Bertold Hering, Janos Vets, Rainer Kirberg, and Babeth;

(3) Fractal Grammar: Annegret Solatu, Hans Peter Bsffgen and Harry Reinen, Gabor Ferenczi and Can Togay, Radio Robotnick TV, Barney W. Hayes, Cornelia Wyngaarden, Paul Wong, Eric Metcalfe with Ed Mowbray and Kou Nakajima, Ika Schier, Greg Woodbury and Barry Nichols, and Yvonne Oerlemans;

(4) Telepathic Music: Erotic Psyche, Josef Robakowski, Michiko Amali, Gysrgy Romvari, Dieter Kiessling, Mao Kawaguchi, Dirk de Bruyn, Margaret Dragu, Al Hansen, Yoanna Czerwinska, Frank Graf, Servaas, and Byron Black;

(5) Myxology: FRIGO, Herbert Wentscher, Zelko Wiener, Sardono Kusomo and Gotot Prakosa, Edgar Heap of Birds, Malcolm Wong, Sucking Check Wound, Jayce Salloum, M. Rasking Stichting ensemble, and Ardele Lister;

(6) Cross-Cultural Television, a special feature edited by Hank Bull and Antoni Muntadas: Irit Batsry, Alfred Birnbaum, Byron Black, Vera Body, Kate Craig, Sylvie and Cherif Defaoui, Theo Eshetu, Fraser Finlayson, Ardele Lister, Ken Feingold, Anna Bella Geiger, Mona Hatoum, Astrid Heibach, Doug Hall, Shelagh Keeley, Tom Klinkowstein, Richard Kriesche, Amna Kusomo, Katja Kaiser, Chip Lord, Dalibor Martinis, Jerome Oggier, April Oliver, Rotraut Pape, Isabel Raventos, Lotty Rosenfeld, Ira Schneider, Werner Schweitzer, Vered Shamron, Hanna Silverman, Berta Sichel, Paul Wong, and Internews.

The Vancouver edition sytled itself as “a videomap of the world”.

“This is the first edition of Infermental to be produced outside Europe. The intention from the beginning was to make it the most international survey to date. We wanted to make a video map of the world. Not a map to draw national borderlines, but one to chart personal mythologies, poetics, and the response to mass media and computers. 3,000 invitations were sent out, and over 300 replies received, enough to produce 3 editions.” (WFVC)

Original Technical Specifications

Format

3/4" umatic

System

NTSC

Condition

Good

Production Staff

technical - Hank Bull, technical - Gerard Couty