Repères historiques 1980

In the beginning of the 1980s, the development of the VHS standard and improvements in the color system lower costs and improve the quality of video production. The possibilities for electronic treatment of images recorded by the video camera are also greatly increased.

The video clip that comes to the fore in the pop music industry is the main demonstration of the transition from intermedia to multimedia that is underway. Music conquers the techniques of the image, and interactions with the visual arts abound.

In Montreal, an international artists festival is organized by Chantal Pontbriand and Parachute with Laurie Anderson, Stuart Brisley, Daniel Buren, Marc Chaiimowicz, Max Dean, Dan Graham, Richard Roreman, Tom Sherman, Robert Wilson, and others.

"Espaces libres" exhibit at the ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Artists include: Assaf, Dominique Belloir, Robert Cahen, Casadeus, Clareboudt, Nicole Croiset, Olivier Debré, Jean Dupuy, Philippe Guerrier, Catherine Ikam, Michel Jaffrenou, Thierry Kuntzel, Longuet and Lavialle, Léa Lublin, Hervé Nisic, Orlan, Gina Pane, Parmegiani, Jean-Jacques Passera, Jean Roualdès, Pierre Rovere, Torra, and Nil Yalter, as well as other artists from the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Israel, and Brazil (30 January-2 February).

The Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris presents two video installations by Catherine Ikam: Dispositif pour un parcours vidéo, which plays on the interactivity and reflexiveness of the video image, and Fragments d'un archétype: hommage à Léonard de Vinci, where sixteen monitors show the fragmented image of Leonardo's "man" (January-March).

"Art-Allemagne aujourd'hui," exhibition at the ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, organized by Dany Block and Suzanne Pagé, with works by Joseph Beuys, Hanne Darboven, Hans Haacke, Robert Filliou, Wolf Vostell, and others (January-March).

In collaboration with Vidéoglyphes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organizes a traveling exhibition for French cultural centers abroad: "Vidéo: la région centrale," featuring nine video works by Martine Aballea, Dominique Belloir, Judy Blum, Robert Cahen, Nicole Croiset, Paul-Armand Gette, Philippe Guerrier, Françoise Janicot, Thierry Kuntzel, Mimi, Philippe Oudard, Jean Roualdès, and Nil Yalter (July).

The Eleventh Paris Biennale, organized by Georges Boudaille, shows works by Barrias, Dominique Belloir, Patrick Bousquet, Robert Cahen, Fernando Calhau, Sophie Calle, Nicole Croiset, Tom Drahos, Jean-Paul Fargier, Bernard Faucon, Alain Fleischer, Gloria Freidman, Catherine Ikam, Danielle Jaeggi, Thierry Kuntzel, Pierre Minot, Tony Oursler, François Pain, and Patrick Prado (2 September-2 November).

"Videokunst in Deutschland 1963-1982," the first major exhibition devoted to video, is held at the Kunstverein in Cologne with works by Klaus Vom Bruch, Barbara Hammann, Peter Kolb, Marcel Odenbach, Friedericke Pezold, Frank Soletti, and Ulay (June).

"About Time: Video, Performance and Installation by Women Artists" is presented at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London and the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol: works by Catherine Elwes, Rose Finn Kelcey, Rose Garrard, Roberta Graham, Susan Hiller, Tina Keane, Alex Meigh, Marceline Mori, and Jane Rigby.

"Video, el temps y l'espai. Sèries informatives 2/Video, Time and Space," organized in Barcelona by the Barcelona Architects' Association. Works by Spanish and foreign artists including Juan Downey, Dan Graham, Wolf Kahlen, Shigeko Kubota, and Antoni Muntadas.

"Fluxus International and Co.," organized by Ben Vautier at the Musée Rath in Geneva, with works by John Armeleder, Joseph Beuys, Robert Filliou, Nam June Paik, Daniel Spoerri, Ben, and others (March-April).

"Art in the Olympics," videotapes by Kit Fitzgerald and John Sanborn, installations by Nam June Paik, Frank Gillette, and Ira Schneider, created for the winter Olympics at Lake Placid.

A videotape by Thierry Kuntzel, Time Smoking a Picture, is shown in the "Video About Video" exhibit at the University Art Museum, Berkeley, and the Téléthèque of the Alliance Française, New York.

The Kitchen in New York presents "French Video Art-Art vidéo français," a week of French video. Curated by Don Foresta of the Center for Media Art in Paris, the program surveys video creation in France through productions of four major institutions: the Center for Media Art at the American Center, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Institut national de l'audiovisuel, and the Ecole nationale supérieure des Arts décoratifs in Paris. Artists represented include: Roland Baladi, Dominique Belloir, Robert Cahen, Roman Cieslewicz, Colette Deblé, Olivier Debré, Catherine Ikam, Thierry Kuntzel, Chris Marker, Hervé Nisic, François Pain, Slobodan Pajic, Patrick Prado, Pierre Rovère, Claude Torey, Teresa Wennberg and Suzanne Nissim, Nil Yalter and Nicole Croisset (4-29 November). A parallel exhibition with the same title is presented at the American Center in Paris.

First broadcast on France's second channel, Antenne 2, of a monthly information program on video, "Vidéo 2," produced and directed by Catherine Ikam and Jean-Paul Fargier (12 April).

France's first channel, TF1, broadcasts "La peinture cubiste," an art program produced for television by Philippe Grandrieux and Thierry Kuntzel and coproduced by the Institut national de l'audiovisuel (October).

"Ateliers 81 / 82" at the ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, featuring an installation by Michel Jaffrenou and Patrick Bousquet (Vidéoscopie) and videotapes by Colette Deblé, Jean-Paul Fargier and Danielle Jaeggi, Yann N'Guyen Minh, Charles Picq and Alain Garlan, Patrick Prado, James Ristorcelli, and Nil Yalter (26 November 1981-21 February 1982).

"Performance, Video, Installation" exhibition at the Tate Gallery, London, with films by Vito Acconci, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, and Stuart Brisley and videos by Ian Baum, David Hall, Tina Keane, and others (September).

1. Danske Symposium on Videokunst, the first Danish symposium on video art, is organized by Niels Lomholt and Torben Søborg (director of the Haslev Video Workshop) at the Huset in Copenhagen. Four issues are addressed: forms of creation through the video medium, production strategies, the role of video as art in relation to Danish institutions, and exhibition possibilities in Denmark and abroad (November).

France's second TV channel, Antenne 2, introduces "Les Enfants du rock," hosted by Philippe Manoeuvre and Jean-Pierre Dionnet. By broadcasting the first video clips, this program contributes to the recognition of work by artists exploring the creative possibilities of video in relation to music (7 January).

Paralleling the New York exhibition "Statements, Leading Contemporary Artists from France," the Kitchen organizes "Paris to New York," a program of videotapes, installations, and performances by Robert Cahen, Jean-Paul Fargier, Catherine Ikam, and Bob Wilson (7-8 February).

The Center for Media Art (directed by Scott MacLeay) at the American Center in Paris organizes evening programs with videotapes by American artists Gary Hill, Nam June Paik, Bill Viola, and Woody and Steina Vasulka (February).

Antenne 2 broadcasts the first installment of the program "Juste une image," shot in video and prepared by Thierry Garel, Louisette Neil, and Philippe Grandrieux (28 April). Produced by the Institut national de l'audiovisuel, this monthly program helps to make the tapes of American video artists such as Dara Birnbaum, Gary Hill, Joan Logue, Nam June Paik, Steina Vasulka, Bill Viola, and Bob Wilson known in France. It also presents interviews with Robert Cahen, Joëlle de la Casinière, Jean-André Fieschi, and Philippe Quéau.

Creation of the International Video and Television Festival by the Centre d'action culturelle in Montbéliard (biennial, competition among some forty video works, one artist retrospective, talks), directed by Pierre Bongiovanni. The first year's festival includes videos by Dominik Barbier, Dominique Belloir, Alain Bourges, Robert Cahen, Philippe Demontant, Nicole Croiset and Nil Yalter, Michel Jaffrenou and Patrick Bousquet, Jean-Louis Le Tacon, Pierre Lobstein, Hervé Nisic, Yann N'Guyen Minh, Teresa Wennberg, and others (6-12 December).

Vidéocéanes festival, organized by the Maison de la Culture in Brest: Jean-Louis Le Tacon and Sophie Handschutter create a multi-screen, multi-source set-up. French artists present include Alain Jomier, Hervé Nisic, and Orlan (December).

Carole Roussopolos, Delphine Seyrig, and Iona Wiener found the Centre audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir in Paris in order to assist women in the creation and distribution of audiovisual works.

Channel 4 goes on the air. The Workshop Declaration establishes an agreement between TV technicians of the Union Act and those of Channel 4 for the creation of open workshops. These workshops serve for the production of films and videos and allow the broadcasting of programs outside the usual union agreements.

The first San Sebastián Video Festival, held in parallel with the 30th San Sebastián International Film Festival. Focus programs feature Kit Fitzgerald, Antoni Muntadas, and Nam June Paik. Selections by the Kitchen in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and Vidéographe (RTBF). Installations by Michel Jaffrenou and Patrick Bousquet, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Joan Logue, and Antoni Muntadas, and a performance by Jean-Paul Fargier and Philippe Sollers. Eugènia Balcells presents her first video installation in Spain, Atravesando Lenguajes/Crossing Through Languages.

The Kitchen in New York presents "Return-Jump," a 1979-1982 video retrospective including French artists living in New York such as Martine Barrat and Michel Auder (10-17 October).

Wolf Vostell creates Dépression endogène in Los Angeles--an installation of live turkeys making their way among gutted video monitors that have been filled with cement. The one monitor in working condition continuously plays a videotape made by the artist in San Francisco and showing the different neighborhoods and freeways encircling the city.

"Art vidéo: Rétrospective et perspective," a historic exhibition for the twentieth anniversary of video, is organized by Laurent Busine at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi as a pendant to the 1975 exhibit "Artists Video Tapes" held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Video environments that could not be presented in 1975 for financial reasons are created in 1983. Main artists include Marie André, Michèle Blondel, Joëlle de la Cassinière, Lili Dujourie, Dan Graham, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Nam June Paik, Michael Snow, Serge Van de Velde, Franck Van Herck, and Wolf Vostell (February-March).

Stefaan Decostere and Chris Dercon make Er ligt een videocassette in de soep (There's a Videocassette in the Soup) for "Tele=Visions", a documentary series on video as art produced and broadcast by the BRT.

The exhibition "Figures imposées" at the Espace Lyonnais d'Art Contemporain includes Hommage à Nam June Paik, a nine-monitor installation by Patrick Bousquet and Michael Jaffrenou (25 January-16 March).

Second International New Images Forum in Monte Carlo, organized by the Institut national de la Communication audiovisuelle in collaboration with International Marketing Video (2-4 February).

Im ARC im Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris findet die Ausstellung C'est un dur métier que l'exil mit Videoinstallationen von Nil Yalter statt (15. März - 24. April).

"Pleine lune", a program taped in video and produced by the Institut national de l'audiovisuel is broadcast on Antenne 2. Directed by Thierry Kuntzel and Jérôme Prieur (in collaboration with Philippe Grandrieux and Pierre Zucca), this program lasting 2 hours and 35 minutes offers the general public a selection of American videos: music clips (John Sanborn), a Self-Portrait by Peter Campus, interviews, and a tape by Nam June Paik (22 August).

"Electra" at the ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, features an installation bt Wolf Vostell, an attempt at video theater by Michel Jaffrenou, and a video performance by Orlan. A retrospective videotape includes excerpts from the most representative works and experiments conceived and produced by the ORTF's GRI, as well as an electronic canvas (25 screens, 4 computer-programmed video sources) conceived by Jean-Louis Le Tacon, Sophie Handschutter, and Alain Jomier and proposed to some thirty French video artists (Domonique Belloir, Pierre Bousquet, Jean-Christophe Bouvet, Robert Cahen, Jean-Paul Fargier, Jean-Michel Gautreau, Catherine Ikam, Michel Jaffrenou, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Pierre Lobstein, Alain Longuet, Yves de Peretti, Patrick Prado, Ugolini, Teresa Wennberg, and others) (1 December 1983-31 January 1984).

Bill Viola exhibition at the ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. For his first solo exhibit in Europe, the American artist shows two video sound installations: An Instrument of Simple Sensation and A Room for Saint John of the Cross, along with a selection of tapes from 1977 to 1983 (20 December 1983-29 January 1984).

Second San Sebastián Video Festival with video installations by Isabel Herguera and Mikel Arce (Lavabo/Washbasin) and Eugènia Balcells (From the Center) and a performance video by Esther Ferrer.

"Vanguardia y últimas tendencias" in Saragossa includes Eugènia Balcells, Pierre Lobstein, Joan Logue, Antoni Muntadas, and others, with video performances by Marshall Reese and Nora Ligorano.

"Recent British Video," programmed by the Kitchen in New York, includes works by John Adams, Ian Bourn, Catherine Elwes, Mick Hartney, Steve Hawley, Tina Keane, Richard Layzell, Antonio Sherman, Margaret Warwick, and Jeremy Welsh.

"Language, Drama, Source, and Vision" at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York includes Vito Acconci, William Wegman, and Lawrence Weiner, among others (8 October-27 November).

"British/Canadian Video Exchange," A Space, Toronto, featuring ninstallations by Mick Hartney, Tina Keane, and Alison Winkle, performances by Marty St. James and Anne Wilson, and a program of videotapes.

Third International New Images Forum in Monte Carlo, organized by the Institut national de l'audiovisuel and International Marketing Video on the theme "Number and Light." Forum-INA program head: Philippe Quéau (8-11 February).

Centre d'action culturelle in Montbéliard (director, Pierre Bongiovanni). French video artists in competition include Roland Baladi, Elsa Cayo, Danielle Jaeggi, Michel Jaffrenou, and Agathe Labernia (13-18 March).

The Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and WNET/Thirteen's Television Laboratory in New York coproduce Nam June Paik's Good Morning Mr. Orwell, a live broadcast by satellite hookup. French artists Robert Combas, Pierre-Alain Hubert, Sapho, Studio Berçot, and Ben Vautier participate in the project from Paris along with foreign artists Joseph Beuys, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Peter Gabriel, Allan Ginsburg, and Charlotte Moorman (1 January).

Politician Lothar Späth proposes the idea of the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) in Karlsruhe. Its goals will be defined with the publication of Concept 88 in 1988. In 1992, construction gets underway for the ZKM, which already participates in the organization of the Multimediale (opened in 1997).

Creation of "Network 1, Travelling Video Library," a videotape collection temporarily stored in video libraries and accessible to the public in Bristol and Newcastle. Organized by the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol and Project UK, Newcastle, under the direction of Mike Stubbs.

"The Luminous Image" at the Stedelijk in Amsterdam, with videotapes and installations by Marina Abramovic and Ulay, Vito Acconci, Max Almy, Dara Birnbaum, Michel Cardena, Brian Eno, Kees de Groot, Nan Hoover, Michael Klier, Shigeko Kubota, Thierry Kuntzel, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Mary Lucier, Marcel Odenbach, Tony Oursler, Nam June Paik, Al Robbins, Lydia Shouten, Elsa Stanfield and Madelon Hooykaas, Francesc Torres, Bill Viola, and Robert Wilson.

First National Video Festival, organized by the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, which opens a new era in the history of Spanish video. Video installations by Carles Pujol (Alicia), Concha Jerez (Trepan, descienden por la escalera o), Eugènia Balcells (Color Fields). Foreign artists include Inge Graf and Zyx, Dan Graham, Michel Jaffrenou (Circus), Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Woody and Steina Vasulka, Wolf Vostell, and Peter Weibel.

First International Video-Biennale at the Museum Moderner Kunst in Vienna. Participants in the symposium held during the Biennale include Chris Dercon, Anne-Marie Duguet, Barbara London, Ulrike Rosenbach, Jean-Paul Tréfois, and others. A retrospective of women's videotapes presents works from Quebec, Hamburg, and Australia (18-21 April).

"Salade liègeoise," a retrospective of ten years of video production in Liège, is organized by the International Culturel Centrum in Liège with works by Marina Abramovic and Ulay, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Michel Jaffrenou, Eddy Luyckx and Marc Emmanuel Melon, Jacques-Louis Nyst, Anne-Françoise Perrin, Jean-Claude Riga, Frank Van Herck, and Nicole Widart (February-April).

"Nouvelles Fictions dans la vidéo en France" is presented at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris with works by Emma Abadi, Dominique Belloir, Alain Bourges, Jean-Christophe Bouvet, Jean-Yves Cousseau, Jean-Paul Fargier, Danielle Jaeggi, Agathe Labernia, Eric Maillet, Anne Raufaste and Denis Couchaux, Wonder Products, and Teresa Wennberg (2 March-24 April).

"The British Art Show," a traveling exhibition organized in Great Britain by the Arts Council, includes installations by Kevin Atherton and videotapes by Mick Hartney and Sandra Goldbacher, among others.

"The New Pluralism," a selection of films and videos made between 1980 and 1985, curated by Michael O'Pary and Tina Keane at the Tate Gallery in London, includes British artists John Adams, Catherine Elwes, David Finch, Sandra Goldbacher, Tamara Krikorian, Margaret Warwick, Jeremy Welsh, Mark Wilcox, Graham Young, and others.

Channel 4-TV broadcasts "The Eleventh Hour," a series of three programs produced by Triple Vision and directed by Terry Flaxton and Penny Dedman, with videos by Georges Barber, Ian Breakwell, the Duvet Brothers, Catherine Elwes, David Hall, Chris Rushton, Gorilla Tapes, Jeremy Welsh, and Graham Young and performances by Keven Atherton.

Teleconfronto de Chianciano Terme, the first International TV Film Fair, extends its scope to video by creating the first International Video Fair in collaboration with the Montbéliard and Locarno festivals. Solo exhibit by Nam June Paik and exhibitions of works by American and European artists.

Time Based Arts (an Amsterdam producer and distributor with its own projection site) presents a three-part program of British art videos, "Subverting Television: Deconstruct/Scratch/After Image. Among the artists included are Georges Barber, the Duvet Brothers, Catherine Elwes, David Hall, Steve Hawley, John Maybury, John Scarlett-Davies, Jeremy Welsh, Mark Wilcox, Graham Young, and the Flying Lizards.

Second National Video Festival, organized by the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. Installations by foreign artists including Nan Hoover, Thierry Kuntzel, Mary Lucier, Marcel Odenbach, Nam June Paik, and Bill Viola. Spanish artists include Francesco Torres (Los juguetes se rompen, un diorama [a]histórico) and Gabriel Fernández Corchero (Naturaleza viva/Naturaleza muerta).

"Video Encounter" exhibition organized by the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, featuring video installations by Gabriel Fernández Corchero, Mary Eugenia Funes and Mareta Espinosa, Sento Bayarri, Maldonado and Os Iavados, and Paco Utray and Zaher Sufi.

Creation of the annual Vidéoformes festival in Clermont-Ferrand, including a solo retrospective, a "video à la carte" service, a prize for video creation, performances, and talks (April).

Third International Video and Television Festival organized by the Centre d'action culturel in Montbéliard (directed by Pierre Bongiovanni). Videotapes by Dominik Barbier, Alain Bourges, Christian Boustany, Robert Cahen, Paul Chamussy, Patrick de Geetere and Catherine Maes, Michael Gaumnitz, Pierre Lobstein, Claude Mourieras, and others (5-11 May).

"Où va la vidéo, une réponse en 10 installations, 50 bandes et 3 rétrospectives", exhibition organized by Jean-Paul Fargier at La Chartreuse de Villeneuve-les-Avignon during the Avignon Theater Festival. As the title indicates, it includes three retrospectives (Robert Cahen, Klaus Vom Bruch, and Bill Viola), ten installations (Alain Bourges, Jean-Michel Gautreau, Patrick de Geetere, Michel Jaffrenou, Thierry Kuntzel, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Ko Nakajima, Nam June Paik, Bill Viola), and a program of videotapes (Jean-Claude Riga and Klaus vom Bruch, prize-winners at the Montbéliard festival, along with productions by the INA, the Octet agency, and independent artists) (12 July-6 August).

"Vidéo Plaisir", the first twice-monthly program addressing video creation for general audiences is directed by Jean-Louis Le Tacon and broadcast by France's encoded station Canal+ (autumn).

With support from Daniel Brücher, the Cologne publisher DuMont issues Axis, a videotape including twenty-one contributions (Bettina Gruber, Maria Vedder, etc.) accompanied by a book. This project is run by Vera Body, who thus continues the work of her husband, filmmaker Gabor Body (d. 1985).

"Channel 6, LVA," projections of international videotapes, are presented at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, the Bracknell Video Festival, and the London Filmmakers Co-Op, with a historical survey of British video art by Tamara Krikorian.

Opening of the Museo Naciónal Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid with the exhibition "Processors," featuring video installations by Antoni Muntadas, Paloma Navares, and Nam June Paik.

"New Video: Japan" exhibition organized by the American Federal Arts and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Works by Shoichiro Azuma, Masaki Fujihata, Teiji Furuhashi, Mako Idemitsu, Kumiko Kushiyama, Akira Matsumoto, Tetsuo Mizuno, Ko Nakajima, Jun Okazaki and Emi Segawa, Noriyuki Okuda, Shuntaro Tanikawa and Shuji Terayama, Keigo Yamamoto, and others (16 January-2 March).

Creation of the exhibition space Baghuset in Copenhagen by a group of students at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. From the outset, artists work in collaboration with art historians and theorists. During the same period, the group Koncern is created by artists Jirgen Michaelson, Siren Andreasen, Jan Bäcklund, and Jakob Jakobsen. Their works are influenced by the theories of the 1960s British group Art & Language. Koncern organizes exhibitions and other events and issues its own publication, Skrift for kunstnerisk-filosofisk grundforskning (Journal of Basic Research in Art History).

Creation of the association Muu by a group of artists, critics, and curators including Marikki Hakola, minna Tarkka, and Perttu Rastas. Its aim is to encourage artistic creation in little-known areas such as video, performance, and installations.

Dan Graham exhibition at the ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Five works are presented (Two Viewing Rooms, Cylinder Inside Cube, Alteration of a Suburban House, Three Linked Cubes, and Two Cubes, One 45° Rotated) along with a selection of his video work (20 February-19 April).

"L'Epoque, la Mode, la Morale, la Passion" exhibition at the Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Video programming includes works by Robert Ashley and John Sanborn, Dara Birnbaum, Jonathan Borofsky and Gary Glassman, Stefaan Decostere and Chris Dercon, Ed Emshwiller, Jean-Luc Godard and Anne-Marie Miéville, Dan Graham, Peter Greenaway, Gary Hill, Michael Klier, Thierry Kuntzel, Joan Logue, Meredith Monk, Jacques-Louis Nyst, Marcel Odenbach, Tony Oursler, Nam June Paik and Shigeko Kubota, Michael Smith, Bill Viola, William Wegman, and Robert Wilson (21 May-17 August).

Jean-Luc Godard begins the video series Histoire(s) du cinéma. The first two parts are shown at the Cannes Film Festival the same year but only broadcast on Canal+ in 1989. A total of six chapters are completed by 1997, to which may be added Les enfants jouent à la Russie and Deux fois cinquante ans du cinéma français (1994).

"The Elusive Sign: British Avant-Garde Film and Video 1977-1987" at the Tate Gallery in London, organized by the Arts Council and the British Council, followed by an international tour. Selection by Michael O'Pray, Tamara Krikorian, and Catherine Elwes, with works by Catherine Elwes, Georges Barber, Ian Bourn, Sera Furneaux, Judith Goddard, David Hall, Mona Hatoum, Steve Hawley, Tamara Krikorian, David Larcher, Jayne Parker, Christopher Rowland, Mark Wilcox, and Graham Young.

First Barcelona Video Biennale, held at the Barcelona Savings Bank with video installations by Silvia Gubern, Angel Jové, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Antoni Llena, Mary Lucier, Xavier Olivé, Carles Santos, and Bill Viola.

"Die Gleichzeitigkeit des Anderen" at the Bern Kunstmuseum, an exhibition organized by J. Glaesemer on dominant and marginal cultures through the visiual arts (with works by Marina Abramovic, Joseph Beuys, Christian Boltanski, Rebecca Horn, Dennis Oppenheim, and others) (21 March-14 June).

"The British Edge: Video: Rescanning" at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in Boston. Selection by Jeremy Walsh with works by Kevin Atherton, Catherine Elwes, Tina Keane, Culture Video, Graham Young, Marion Urch, and Steve Hawley.

Video Marathon II at the Pumpehuset in Copenhagen. Presentation of videotapes and installations, notably by Marcel Odenbach and Marie-Jo Lafontaine, and Danish works by King Kong Productions (November).

Beginning of TV2 on the model of Channel 4 in Great Britain: a television network with limited in-house production and a policy of buying outside programs and broadcasting and distributing videos.

In conjunction with the Marcel Duchamp exhibit "Ubrigens sterben immer die Anderen. Marcel Duchamp und die Avantgarde seit 1950" at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, video programming includes Anemic Cinema and an interview with Duchamp by Russell Connor, Duchampmania by Shigeko Kubota, Merce by Merce by Paik by Nam June Paik, The Last Videotapes of Marcel Duchamp by John Sanborn and Kit Fitzgerald, and Through the Large Glass by Hannah Wilke.

In conjunction with "Internationale Photoszene Köln" presented at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Circling, the first transmission of a video image by cable between Vancouver and Cologne. Artists participating: Birgit Antoni, Hank Bull, Douglas Davis, Delta Galerie, Karin Hazelwander, Infermental VIII, Mischa Kuball, Station Rose, Maria Vedder, Videolabyrinth, and Waterfront (5-11 November).

"Down the Tube" at the City Art Gallery in Manchester: videotapes by Catherine Elwes, Marion Urch, Sven Harding, Culture Video, Marty St. James, and Anne Wilson, plus installations by Mineo Aayamaguchi.

Edge 88, international festival of performance, installations, and videos, organized by Rob La Fresnais, is held in various venues in London with "The Observatory" vidéothèque by Jeremy Welsh, European video programming including Marina Abramovic and Ulay, Klaus Vom Bruch, and installations by Ulrike Rosenbach and Tina Keane.

"Genlock," traveling video exhibition organized by Interim Art and LVA, presents videotapes commissioned from Kevin Atherton, Atalia Shaw and Cathy Acker, Stuart Marshall and Neil Bartlett, Isaac Julien and Julian Sommerville. Also includes a selection of videos by international artists and historical works around the themes of the monologue, the confessional, the self-portrait, the portrait, and the performance.

"Planes of Memory," exhibition at the Long Beach Museum of Art (curator Jacqueline Kain): retrospective of the first video installations by Bruce Nauman, Beryl Korot, and Peter Campus.

"Open Channels III" (curator Peter Kirby): a program of production funding initiated in 1985 by the Long Beach Museum. Participants include David Bunn, Paul Kos, Donna Matorin, Paul McCarthy, and Jim Shaw (24 January-28 February).

Ars Electronica '89 festival in Linz on the theme "Im Netz der System - Für eine interaktive Kunst." Includes European Mobile Media Art Project, featuring Gerhard J. Lischka, Jeffrey Shaw, Peter Weibel, and others.

Creation of the School of Media Art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen on the initiative of Torben Christensen, who was to become the academy's first Media Art professor in 1994. The members of the Koncern group were the school's first students (I.N. Kjaer, Joachim Koester, Lars Bent Petersen, and Ann-Kristin Lislegaard).

Creation of AV-Arkki, a production and distribution structure affiliated with the Muu group. This initiative of Marikki Hakola, Minna Tarkka, and Perttu Rastas is intended to collect and archive Finnish production and allow it to circulate.

Imagina, the Eighth International New Images Forum in Monte Carlo, organized by the International Television Festival of Monte Carlo and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel on the theme "Images en liberté" (8-11 February).

"La Fée Electricité" at the ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris: two video sculptures (robots) by Nam June Paik, Cicero and Diderot, are presented in the gallery decroated with Raoul Dufy's fresco La Fée électricité (28 April-31 October).

Chris Marker begins work on the Zapping Zone installation (some twenty tapes made between 1985 and 1990). The installation will be assembled in its first version in 1990 for the exhibition "Passages de l'image" at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Composed of thirteen video areas and seven computer areas, Zapping Zone is an open work that will be modified for each new presentation (1992, 1994, 1997, 1998).

"Video-Skulptur retrospektiv und aktuell 1963-1989," exhibition organized by the Kunstverein/DuMont-Kunsthalle in Cologne. Among the forty-five artists represented (sculptures, installations) are Shigeto Kubota, Thierry Kuntzel, Les Levine, Bruce Nauman, Marcel Odenbach, and Nam June Paik. Klaus vom Bruch does a live manipulation of images from a Russian TV program (March).

"Video Positive," traveling exhibition (Tate Gallery in London, Blue Coat Gallery and Williamson Art Gallery in Liverpool) curated by Eddie Berg and Steve Littman. Includes video installations, performances, projections, and talks. The first national video wall is commissioned from Judith Goddard, Steve Littman, Kate Meynell, Steve Partridge, Simon Robetshaw, and Mike Jones. Installations commissioned from David Hall, Mineo Aayamaguchi, Zoe Redman, Chris Rowland, Marion Urch, and Jeremy Welsh.

First International Biennale-ARTEC '89 is held at the Nagoya City Art and Science Museum. Artists represented: Ed Emshwiller, Ingo Günther, Catherine Ikam, Takamichi Ito, Piotr Kowalski, Tatsuo Miyajima, Ko Nakajima, Bill Parker, Fabrizio Plessi, Jeffrey Shaw and Dirk Groeneveld, and others (7 July-26 November).

Exposition itinérante Eye For I : Video Self-Portraits, conçue par Raymond Bellour et organisée par les Independant Curators Incorporated de New York. Elle juxtapose le travail d'artistes vidéo américains avec celui d'artistes européens : Vito Acconci, Gerd Belz, Peter Campus, Juan Downey, Jean-Luc Godard, Gary Hill, Joan Jonas, Thierry Kuntzel, Pier Marton, Danièle & Jacques-Louis Nyst, Marcel Odenbach, Ulrike Rosenbach et Bill Viola. Itinérance : Muncie (Etats-Unis), Milan, Ferrare (Italie), Vancouver (Canada), Rutgers, Greensboro, Santa Barbara, Winnipeg (Etats-Unis).