An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
In John Sanborn and Kit Fitzgerald’s Ear to the Ground, percussionist David Van Thieghem “plays” the city of New York as he uses everyday objects as instruments. Zbigniew Rybczynski’s The Discreet Charm of the Diplomacy depicts a cocktail…
This program opens with a piece performed by the dance group "Maasai," which explores an African tribal dance and its variations performed in 1980s London. The second and final segment, "Parafango," is a collaboration between…
Smothering Dreams features an interview with video artist/sculptor Dan Reeves as well as clips from his video piece of the same title. The work juxtaposes footage from combat against shots of everyday children’s play in order to critique…
Artists who poke fun at the medium of television are the focus of this 1985 episode. As noted by host Susan Stamberg, Comedy on Video is highly self-reflexive since these artists not only mock commercial television but also educational…
Directed by video artist Shirley Clarke, Tongues (1985) is a collaboration between playwright Sam Shepard and actor Joseph Chaikin. According to Chaikin, Tongues is about “somebody being reborn and reborn again.” In the video, Chaikin…
"Summer" is the theme of the dances, which are performed outdoors. Inspired by the teenage life in a working-class neighborhood, the first dance, "You Little Wild Heart" by Marta Renzi, is performed to music by Bruce Springsteen in an…
Spalding Gray discusses his experiences working as a professional theater actor while sitting at a desk or table in the same manner as many of his filmed and theatrically released monologues.
This program, hosted by Susan Stamberg, showcases alt rock music videos, beginning with "The Dancing Man," in which a recurring song torments a man. The video "The Women's Group" by the British New Wave group "The Flying Lizards" offers a…
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
Season two of Alive from Off Center begins with engaging segments from 1986 that showcase state-of-the-art video technology, dance, and comedy from the period. John Sanborn and Dean Winkler demonstrate their pyrotechnics in Lumiere.…
This program features the broadcast premiere of the "doo-wop" opera "Sister Suzie Cinema," which integrates the "a cappella" singing of the all- male group 14 Karat Soul into a nostalgic salute to the music, movies, and teenagers of the…
Hosted by Susan Stamberg, this program features three pieces by movement artist Michael Moschen and a dance performance by Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane. Moschen performs "Fire" with a pair of burning torches that he moves quickly in…
Hosted by Susan Stamberg, this program features works by two video/computer artists: "Mt. Fuji," by the Japanese artist Ko Nakajima, and "Hyster Pulsatu," by the Dutch artist Jaap Drupsteen. Both works offer unusual depictions of…
This episode contains a parody of a "how-to" instructional video about photography starring noted photographers William Wegman and Michael Smith. Host Susan Stamberg introduces the video as a "spoof on America's obsession with instant…
In this program, hosted by Susan Stamberg, three dances created especially for performance on television -- two from America and one from France -- are enhanced by computer technology, graphic design, and special camera effects. "Visual…
Hosted by Susan Stamberg, the program features dance pieces by Charles Moulton, David Parsons, Trisha Brown, and Skip Blumberg. "Nine Person Precision Ball Passing," choreographed by Charles Moulton, involves three rows of three dancers…
In "The Nose Knows," Teddy Dibble sniffs several microphones, selects one, and mouths the words to an instrumental of "The Girl from Ipanema"; in "A Scar-y Story," he incredulously describes a strange condition afflicting his face, as…
This program features three works by dancer and choreographer David Gordon. The first, entitled "Dorothy and Eileen," combines dance with storytelling: two women share stories about their relationships with their mothers while dancing.…
his program features two video works by performance artist Laurie Anderson. The first, "Late Show" (an excerpt from her film "Home of the Brave"), is a music video of one of her songs. The second, "What You Mean We?," is a fantasy in…
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
Hosted by Laurie Anderson and her male double, a computer-generated clone, this program features comic artist Bill Irwin. Trying to find a calm oasis at a tense audition, Irwin wanders into an empty rehearsal space and becomes tangled in…
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
This energetic 1987 program features the Women of the Calabash, an all-female percussion and vocal ensemble who perform with calabashes. Reviving traditional African rhythms infused with contemporary Latin American, Caribbean, and African…
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
A bleak portrait of life in a Lancashire town in 1980's Thatcher era Britain.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.
An avant-garde omnibus that features works by off-the-wall artists in many different disciplines.