SPIN 411
Spin 411
by: John Sturgeon & Nina Sobel, ©1974
Mark Taper Forum - Experimental Lab Theater, Hollywood, CA
Spin 411 was a 1974 “installation-event” created for the Experimental Lab Theater of the Mark Taper Forum. Note: these were the early years of small format B&W video and “hands-on” access to the means of video production was still relatively rare. Sturgeon and Sobel envisioned a reversal of theatrical norms, by having the audience arrive via the rear stage entrance, then on to the stage and seating arena, which was left open as a production space. The entire theater was setup with access to the means of video production: cameras, monitors, mics, lighting, etc. that the audience was invited to utilize.
By entering in such a way, in essence – the audience became the protagonists of the evening’s event. The -experiment - was to provide a production environment for the audience from which they could create their own improvisational scenarios. Throughout the space were situated several monitors featuring individual videos by both Sturgeon and Sobel that could be viewed or integrated into the audiences’ productions.
Although there is no available video or photographic documentation of the SPIN 411, historically this event showcased the artists’ early individual works, which became seminal to their careers.
These early B&W videos by John Sturgeon, included:
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Hands Up
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Shirt
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Porky
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NOR/MAL CON/VERSE
View Sturgeon’s videos, with details, reviews and a link to these videos
via the VIDEO section of this site’s Portfolio area.
HANDS UP © 1974 j.sturgeon
PORKY © 1974 j.sturgeon
SHIRT © 1974 j.sturgeon
NOR/MAL CON/VERSE © 1974 j.sturgeon
Serpentine Gallery, Hyde Park, London.
1975 Arts Council of Great Britain,
Serpentine Gallery exhibition
"The Video Show"
Four of Sturgeon’s early B&W video works from 1974 were curated into The Video Show - 1975 Arts Council of Great Britain, Serpentine Gallery exhibition, London, England. All four of these works from 1975 The Video Show are now included in the collection of the British Film/Video Archives (Steven Ball director).
(waterpiece)
NOR/MAL CON/VERSE
Shirt
HANDS UP
The Video Show exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, London, was touted at the Tate Modern's 2012 REWIND opening as being a seminal event for British video art. The catalog was inclusive of almost everyone - literally a world snapshot from the first generation of American video artists’ small format activity by the mid-70s, including these works by John Sturgeon.
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It was a revolutionary, one-of-a-kind exhibition - with amazing inclusivity and scope. I don't ever recall a similar attempt of such scope in the U.S.
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Steven Ball, director – British Film/Video Archives, London
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John Sturgeon
California VIDEO
Getty Institute, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2008
Artists web data base statement
Drawing from mythology, astrology, and ritual, John Sturgeon employs symbolic systems within his videos to explore individual consciousness. Sturgeon creates his own language out of everyday elements, such as water or ice; yet in his poetic orchestration of video technology, he articulates the universal search for self-knowledge. His work from the mid-1970s consists of tightly edited, multi-layered imagery strongly influenced by Jungian psychology and dream analysis.
As his own spiritual search became the subject of his work, the actions depicted in many of Sturgeon’s early tapes eventually extended outside the monitor, often including the element of live performance and sculptural and video installation. Initially reflecting a characteristically West Coast consciousness that could even be described as “New Age”, Sturgeon’s work has continued to embrace new media and interactive forms in an ongoing exploration of ritual and universal experience.
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Catalogue interview excerpt (2/9/07 NYC) “California Video”
Exhibition: Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA 2008
California Video: Artists and Histories, edited by Glenn Phillips
