John Thomson, Electronic Arts Intermix, New York Conducted By Artist John Gerrard

In association with the Arts Council's Critical Voices programme 2006 Darklight are delighted to host a public interview with John Thomson, Electronic Arts Intermix, New York conducted by artist John Gerrard. Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is one of the world's leading non-profit resources for video art and interactive media. John Thomson has been active in media arts on an international level since the 1980s and has been Director of Distribution at EAI since 2000. He is also a co-director and founder of Foxy Production, a leading contemporary art gallery in New York . He has been active in media arts on an international level since the 1980s. Before moving to New York in 2000, he researched media art digitization and distribution for the Lux Centre, London . In 1998 he was Coordinator of Pandaemonium Festival, London , and in 1997 he co-curated the Lux's inaugural moving image exhibition program. He has curated media art programs and exhibitions for the Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley; the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart; Tate Britain, London; The Institute of Contemporary Art, London; Exit Art, New York; and Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, among other venues. He has lectured in media arts at the London Institute, and the School of Visual Arts , New York . He has written for "Mesh", Melbourne; "Art in Culture", Seoul ; and has written on media art preservation in "Art Between Zero and One: A Manual of Digital Art", Christoph Kehl and Beat Raeber, eds., Basel , 2006.

During this interview he will discuss issues surrounding distribution and selling of moving image work as well as issues on archiving video, art an animation originating on computers. We hope this discussion will trigger some of the topics up for debate at the Darklight Symposium 2007.

John Gerrard is one of Irelands most exciting young artists, amongst other things his work is concerned with real time passing and deals with issues of sustainability, longevity and durability both thematically and practically.

Followed by a screening of a selection of work from EAI's catalogue and archive. Video Variations: Artists' Experiments with the Video Image Artists working with video have often manipulated images they have shot or found to produce new contexts, meanings, and effects. The works in this programme re-present original materials in ways that enthral, disturb, and entertain. They undermine our expectations of the behaviour of moving images, placing in relief the elements of contemporary film and TV that we take for granted: character, narrative, figure, scene, and tempo. Spanning four decades, this collection includes work from Steina and Woody Vasulka, Dara Birnbaum, Peggy Ahwesh and Shana Moulton.

Sketches 24:14 min 1970
By Steina and Woody Vasulka (b&w, sound)

The Vasulkas are pioneers of electronic image processing. This series shows their earliest experiments with video manipulation. They begin to creatively interpret images rather than merely documenting actions, revealing the evolution of their visionary techniques.

Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman 05:50 1978-79
By Dara Birnbaum (color, sound)

PM Magazine/Acid Rock 04:09 1982
By Dara Birnbaum (color, sound)

Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman and PM Magazine/Acid Rock demonstrate Dara Birnbaum's uncanny ability to edit found TV footage in ways that can amuse, disturb, and critique. When these videos were produced, they were associated with the Post-Modernist trope of appropriation; today, with their edge, wit and style, they still seem absolutely contemporary.

She Puppet 15:00 2001
By Peggy Ahwesh (color, sound)

Re-editing footage collected from months of playing Tomb Raider, Peggy Ahwesh creates a new linear version of Tomb Raider. She Puppet dramatizes Lara Croft's experience and acknowledges the intimate relationship between video-game character and player.

Feeling Free with 3D Magic Eye Poster Remix 08:13 2004
By Shana Moulton (color, sound)

Shana Moulton's drama centers on an odd character (played by the artist), who navigates an increasingly strange, psychedelic domestic world while attempting to follow a senior citizens' exercise video hosted by Angela Lansbury.

Untitled (Silver) 10 min 2006
By Takeshi Murata (b&w, sound)

Takeshi Murata deconstructs movie excerpts pixel by pixel to create astonishing visual journeys that seem at once organic and digital. Untitled (Silver) moves between figuration and abstraction, leavingthe viewer in a kind of netherworld where meanings are never settled.