ITALY
Ansaloni and Bonora in Ferrara
- Italy. . Ferrara. 3/30/83. Setting up meetings while
traveling is complicated business, but the Italians were always
accommodating. Carlo Ansaloni is associate curator in contemporary
art at the Palazzo Diamanti, and Lola Bonora is director
of that division. This recording shows the two of them as they
listen to Ritchie make his requests and then they go over their
program to show how they can help.
- Artists everywhere are approaching technology to include it
in their expressive language or to experiment with it for its
own sake. Supporting them are the museums - sometimes through
exhibition programs, sometimes through educational and experimental
projects. International exchange sometimes comes about by the
communication means made available in this way. 17:00 Min. SA830330
Tomaso Trini in Bologna
- Italy. . Bologna. 3/31/83. Tomaso Trini directs the
contemporary programs at the Galleria della Moderna Arte
in Bologna. The first meeting with him is recorded as Bill Ritchie
asks him about his view of the video work being done at the time
in Italy; he speaks from his decade of experience with the medium,
saying that early video had a film and performance origin, not
graphics; currently it is music which yields the strongest influence.
"Video art is denied," he said, "Now we have only
video makers."
- Museums around the world are reassessing the emergence of
new technologies such as video. Sometimes it is the earlier innovators--the
artists and young critics--who are responsible for the video programs.
The exhibitions of video are sometimes accompanied with a trade
fair and technical event. Also, seminars are developed, or lectures
and demonstrations. Clearly, museums perform an educational role
in the task of examining new technologies and art. 16 Min. SA830331
Video at Palazzo dei Diamanti
- Italy. . Ferrara. 4/1/83. Carlo Ansaloni and Lola Bonora
have arranged a visit with Mauricio Bonora and Georgio Cattani,
two local artists who were currently producing tapes at the Palazzo
Dei Diamonti Centrovideoarte. The videotape is fragments of
their works in video, and Ritchie asking if the video relates
to their printmaking interests.
- In some countries, video art made an entry with much fanfare
and enthusiastic support. Often, then, the initial excitement
wore off as the money sources changed or disappeared. Now, over
ten years later (from its entry into European countries), there
is a return to video; this time it is with the lessons learned
with a more methodical approach and a philosophy for direction.
30:00 Min. SA830401
Buster Simpson in Florence, Michigan
- Italy. . Nr Florence. 4/4/83. Buster Simpson, Seattle
artist at large is in Italy when this recording was made, surveying
the Carrara marble available for his newest work in sculpture.
He is found at the country home of Lise Apatoff, Italian painter
and friend of the Seattle artist community. The three, Simpson,
Lise, and videoist Ritchie, make a silly tour of the yard.
- Artists travel today much as if traveling is the tradition
for creative and intelligent endeavor, as important as time spent
in a studio. A global network exists as a result of this, allowing
many true artists opportunities to realize complex plans and test
their ideas against a globe-wide outlook. 4:00 Min. SA830404
Visit to Arte del Mosaico
- Italy. . Florence. 4/5/83. The Arte del Mosaico
is a little factory, one of several in the area, where crafts
people design and make mosaic from colored stone - mostly marble
cut into thin sheets. The Italians can be particularly proud of
this art and craft; the videotape recording shows the general
method of these inlaid and interlocked works.
- Colored natural stone may be the only medium which possesses
longevity and is used as a pictorial and decorative medium. 18:00
Min. SA830405
Elizabeth Beheshti at Zepelin Internationale
- Italy. . Florence. 4/6/83. Elizabeth Beheshti is an
artist in sculpture and printmaking, and field teacher for Gonzaga
University. She also does printing through her own small press
or, on occasion, works for others. In this videotape she describes
some of her teaching methods and the work of Zepelin Internationale,
her private press. She compares the practices of publishers in
Italy with those in the US.
- International exchange takes place among artists, but it is
possible also for art students. Most art schools have arrangements
with individuals, workshops, and schools abroad to that ensure
maximum benefits are gained. Often, Americans make up part of
the resource group in the countries abroad. 11:40. SA830406
- Italy. . Florence. 4/7/83. In this recording, Signora
Maria Luigia Guaita, owner of Il Bisonte, states, "Only
art and poetry can save the world now." Her publishing printshop
and gallery has been the workplace of some of Europe's best-known
artists: Picasso, Calder, Moore, and others. "I am old and
tired now," she says, "but I don't want to see Il Bisonte
stop." Now she is starting the International School of
Graphic Art. In this videotape she takes Bill Ritchie on a
tour of the annex of Palazzo Serristori being renovated
for the school. See Full Text
- Frequently, as one travels and if one listens for it, you
will hear the expressed desire for international exchange among
artists and teachers of the arts. Media arts present a situation
particularly suited to this exchange since the workshops devoted
to media arts do bring people together in order that they can
produce their art in these forms of media - print, film, photography,
video, and computer graphics. 14:00 Min. SA830407
The Print Studio at Villa Shifanoia
- Italy. . Florence. 4/8/83. Gary Lissa, a faculty member
at Rosary College Graduate School of Fine Arts at Villa
Shifanoia, shows the studio at this one-time mansion, given
to the use by the college for art studies. The videotape recording
was made on a holiday, so the otherwise busy studio is empty of
students.
- There are some problems with the study abroad programs, and
you will usually be told that these are economic. The problem
has been met in the past, of course, but there is greater apprehension
nowadays since some of the motivation to study institutionalized
art forms is changing; students indicate an interest in other
art forms and study of them by different means. 3:00 Min. SA830408
Karen Norwood at Santa Reparata
- Italy. . Florence. 4/9/83. Karen Norwood is one of
several partners who own Santa Reparata Graphic Arts Center,
a production studio and school. She explains the relationship
this shop has with the colleges they serve in study abroad programs
and also a few examples of projects undertaken. There are views
of the studios and some students at work.
- Some cities in other countries outside the U.S. offer a particularly
rich variety and facility combination for the artist, the teacher,
and the student away from their homes. If individuals are able
to rise to the opportunity they'll find a mixture of the exotic
and the familiar--the former being given by the place, the latter
being a property of the people and media arts studios. 20:00 Min.
SA830409
Magnetica at Galleria d'Arte Moderne
- Italy. . Bologna. 4/10/83. Tomaso Trini Castelli directed
the week-long Magnetica exhibition and conference at the
modern museum in Bologna. This video recording shows him introducing
one of the speakers; she describes the use of computers in the
creation of special effects for television. There is a glimpse
of the exhibition itself, besides the ongoing speaker program.
- The computer has brought about a renewed interest in electronic
media, and art museums are bringing the subject to their publics
in the forms of exhibits, serial programs, and conferences. Younger
people and students comprise a large majority of their audience.
12:00 Min. SA830410
Next stop: Spain