Videos on the Arts

Fully awake Black Mountain College c2006

Cathryn Davis Zommer, Neeley House, and ElonDoc

A documentary film about the experimental college based in North Carolina from 1933-1957 and its enormous influence on community, collaboration, and American modern art. Looks at the unique educational style and long term significance of Black Mountain College through interviews with students, teachers, historians, and current artists. 1 videodisc (60 min.)

MEDIA 10-1888

 

The last conquistador c2008

John J Valadez, Cristina Ibarra, John Sherrill Houser, Valadez Media (Firm), Kitchen Sync, Inc, and Independent Television Service

The story of sculptor John Houser's dream to build the world's tallest bronze equestrian statue for El Paso, Texas, to memorialize the Spanish conquistador Juan de Ońate and to honor the contributions of Hispanic people in the American West.  But Native Americans are outraged, remembering Ońate as the man who brought genocide, cut off their feet, and sold their children into slavery.  As El Paso divides along lines of race and class, Houser must face the moral implications of his work. 1 videodisc (69 min. ) :

MEDIA 10-2478

 

Le Million The million 2000

Renae Lefaevre, Annabella, Louis Allibert, Renae Clair, A Bernard, Philippe Paraes , Georges van Parys, Georges Berr, Marcel Guillemaud, Filmsonor (Firm), and Criterion Collection (Firm)

A musical comedy about a pair of young lovers who lose a lottery ticket worth a million francs and chase it frantically across Paris. Considered one of the very first musical films. 1 videodisc (81 min.)

MEDIA 10-2050   2-168

 

Patti Smith dream of life 2008

Patti Smith is a renowned singer, songwriter, poet and activist. Her music, poetry, and politics are fearless, funny, raw and original. Traces Patti's punk-poet roots through the trials of daily life and untimely deaths that have formed her life and art. Touches on her early days in New York City and includes the people dearest to her, her family, and the political causes she champions. 1 videodisc (109 min.)

MEDIA 10-5045

 

Silent Ozu: Disc 2: Umarete wa mita keredo I was born, but-- : three family comedies 2008

James Maki, Akira Fushimi, Geibei Ibushiya , Yasujir o Ozu, Tatsuo Saito, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Hideo Sugawara, Tomio Aoki, Takeshi Sakamoto, Teruyo Hayami, Seiichi Kat?o, Shoichi Kofujita, Janus Films, Sh?ochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

For two brothers, the daily grind of bullies and mean teachers is nothing compared to the mortification they feel when they come to understand their good-natured father's low-rung social status. A blithe portrait of the financial and psychological toils of one family, from the standpoint of a couple of stubborn little boys. 1 videodisc (90 min.)

MEDIA 10-2123

 

Some Fluxus 1991

Larry Miller, George Maciunas, and Electronic Arts Intermix (Organization)

This video documentary features performance works by Fluxus artists juxtaposed with excerpts from Miller's 1978 Interview with George Maciunas. 1 videodisc (59 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2292

Against the odds the artists of the Harlem Renaissance 1994

Amber Edwards and Joe Morton

Documents the story of a group of black visual artists working during the 1920s and 1930s, who for the most part were unable to show their work in mainstream museums and galleries.  Highlights the influential role the Harmon Foundation played in the development of African American art in the United States. 1 videocassette (57 min)

MEDIA  2-2568, 4002

 

The age of anxiety  1997

Robert Hughes and Arnold B Glimcher

An eight part series presenting American history through its visual art, painting, sculpture, architecture and monuments. This final segment explores how American art has reflected the upheavals of the last 25 years. Hughes traces the evolution of abstract art and minimalism and considers the spiritual richness of earth works, in which nature is the artist's medium. He ends the series by profiling a wide range of contemporary artists including Edward Kienholz,  Donald Judd, Richard Serra, Walter De Maria, Robert Smithson, Bruce Nauman, Richard Diebenkorn, Philip Guston, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Susan Rothenberg, Eric Fischl, Louise Bourgeois and James Turrell. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-4085

 

Alan Bean art off this earth 1990

Murry Battle, Rudy Buttignol, and Anna Medina

A documentary about the 9th astronaut on the moon, Alan Bean, which focuses on the paintings he created from his memories and experiences on the moon and in space. 1 videocassette (26 min.)

MEDIA 2-1689

 

America's castles 1996

Randall Shuptrine, Joe Van Riper, and Scott Galloway

Archival films and photographs are used to describe Wright's childhood homes, as well as the homes of his early adult life in Illinois and later adult life in Wisconsin. Includes commentary by experts. 1 videocassette (ca. 50 min.)

DANA 1640

 

American photography a century of images 1999

Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer, Ronald Blumer, Harris Yulin, Robert B Silberman, and Vicki Goldberg

Presents the whole range of photography in the United States in the 20th century. The range of topics include artistic photography, photojournalism and home photography. The series mentions the technological change and the impact that photographs have whether they are personal or newsworthy. 3 videocassettes (ca. 161 min.)

MEDIA. MEDIA. MEDIA 2-4314 cassette 1 2-4315 cassette 2 2-4316 cassette 3

 

Art city making it in Manhattan 1996

Chris Maybach, Paul Gardner, Tom Waits, Ronnie Jordan, Piero Umiliani, Chet Baker, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and George Van Eps

Presenting a cross-section of artists, status, age, sex, and ethnic backgrounds. The film moves into lofts, studios and galleries for intimate scenes of artists at work.  They discuss inspiration, aesthetic issues, the meaning of success, and how they overcame hardship to pursue a lifetime in art. 1 videocassette (58 min.)

DANA. MEDIA 951 2-3598

 

Art in the twenty-first century c2001

Susan Sollins, Susan Dowling, Catherine Tatge, Deborah Shaffer, Steve Martin, Laurie Anderson, S. Epatha Merkerson, John McEnroe, PBS Home Video, and Art 21, Inc

Meet twenty-one diverse contemporary artists through revealing profiles that take viewers behind the scenes into artists' studios, homes, and communities to provide an intimate view of their lives, work, sources of inspiration and creative processes. 2 videocassettes (ca. 4 hrs.)

MEDIA 2-4404-4405

 

The Art of Navajo weaving ; The Durango collection 1987

H. Jackson Clark, Mark Winter, David Baysinger, Elizabeth Gilmore, Isabel John, and Geanita John

Features two complete programs. The first, The Art of Navajo weaving, beautifully documents the state of Navajo weaving, looking at its origins and, through a visit with a contemporary weaving family, its current state. It features Isabel and Geanita John, award winning pictorial weavers. The second program is an interesting and educational tour through the Durango Collection, the most complete private collection of Navajo and Southwestern weaving in the world. The collection is presented as it was seen in a recent exhibition at the Denver Museum of Natural History. 1 videocassette (56 min.)

MEDIA 2-2647

 

Artists at work a film on the New Deal art projects 1983

Mary Lance and Morgan Freeman

An in-depth survey of the federal programs for support of visual artists during the depression. Several artists recount experiences with WPA's art project and other programs. Shows works of art created during the New Deal era and discusses the destruction and loss of many works of art produced then. 1 videocassette (35 min.)

DANA 317

 

Arts 1987

An optimistic look at the role of the arts in revitalizing the city of Newark.  Discussion includes ambitious plans for the future of arts in Newark, including opening a performing arts center, and how it would be financed.  Economically, socially, and politically, developing the arts in Newark will be beneficial to both the city and the State of New Jersey.  Featured guests are the Chairman/CEO of Mutual Benefit Life Robert Van Fossan, Rutgers University-Newark Dr. Clement Price, Music critic for Star Ledger Michael Redmond and Assistant Secretary of State Alvin Felzenberg. 1 videocassette (30 min.)

DANA 161

 

Black women on: the light, dark thang c1999

Celeste Crenshaw, Paula Caffey, Camille McCurty Ali, Black Women On Productions, Inc, and Women Make Movies (Firm)

Explores the politics of color within the African-American community. Afro-American women, representing a variety of hues, speak candidly about the longstanding "caste system" that permeates black society and share personal stories about how being too light or too dark has profoundly influenced their life and relationships. 1 videocassette (52 min.)

MEDIA 2-7333

 

Bright like a sun 1999

Tracy Heather Strain and Vanessa Williams

Discusses the creative visions of African-American artists such as singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson, who uses his fame and artistry to fight for social justice; sculptor Augusta Savage, who builds an art school in Harlem to nurture African-American talent; jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, playing the bebop that will become a recognized musical genre. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-4292

 

Clementine Hunter American folk artist 1993

Clementine Hunter, Katina Simmons, and Christina Patoski

Presents the art of Clementine Hunter with interviews with the artist and commentary by collectors from Natchitoches, Louisiana. 1 videocassette (28 min.)

DANA 576

 

East coast/West coast 1969

Nancy Holt

Artists Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson, a married couple until Smithson's death in 1973, filmed their 1969 discussion of contrasting lifestyles and approaches to artistic creation. Smithson championed a relatively loose, free-wheeling approach; Holt argued for a greater degree of order and conceptualization in life and art. 1 videocassette (ca. 23 min.)

MEDIA 2-5640

 

Eat 19--

Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), and Film Library

A film or artist Robert Indiana eating mushrooms and playing with a cat. 1 videocassette (ca. 25 min.)

MEDIA D-228

 

The Eighteenth century woman 1982

Suzanne Bauman, Jim Burroughs, Marisa Berenson, Diana Vreeland, and Stella Blum

Looks at an exhibit at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled The eighteenth century woman, a vast collection of costumes, accessories, and objets d'art that reveal the unique ways in which fashionable eighteenth-century women made their presence felt in the society, art, and politics of their time. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

DANA 767

 

The empire of signs 1997

Robert Hughes, Clement Greenberg, Karal Ann Marling, Henry Louis Gates, and Kirk Varnedoe

An eight part series presenting American history through its visual art, painting, sculpture, architecture and monuments. In this seventh segment, after the post-war era, Hughes traces the development of abstract expressionism and the life of Jackson Pollock, and explores how artists as different as James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, David Smith, Willem De Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Romare Bearden, Joseph Cornell, Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns reacted to the new consumer culture. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-4084

 

Fire in the East a portrait of Robert Frank 1986

Robert Frank, Philip Brookman, Amy Brookman, Anne Tucker, and Paul Yeager

"Presents an intimate view of four decades of Frank's life, films, and photographs. This award-winning documentary features his photographs, films, and interviews with many of his collaborators and contemporaries, including Emile de Antonio, Allen Ginsberg, Walter Gutman, June Leaf, Jonas Mekas, Duane Michals, John Szarkowski, and Rudy Wurlitzer"--Container. 1 videocassette (28 min.)

DANA 813

 

From these roots a review of the "Harlem Renaissance" 1974

William Greaves and Brock Peters

Uses still photographs and filmed sequences to recreate the social and political climate of the Harlem renaissance--a period of great artistic and cultural activity in the 1920's which had, and still has, a profound influence on black American art and self-awareness and life-style. 1 videocassette (ca. 30 min.)

MEDIA 2-1703

 

Fully awake Black Mountain College c2006

Cathryn Davis Zommer, Neeley House, and ElonDoc

A documentary film about the experimental college based in North Carolina from 1933-1957 and its enormous influence on community, collaboration, and American modern art. Looks at the unique educational style and long term significance of Black Mountain College through interviews with students, teachers, historians, and current artists. 1 videodisc (60 min.)

MEDIA 10-1888

 

Guerrillas in our midst 1992

Amy Harrison, Margaret Herbig, Ron Hunnings, Maurice Chayut, and Ruth Cullen

Gallery owners comment on the actions of a group of anonymous women artists who call themselves the Guerrilla Girls. Also interviewed are members of the Guerrilla Girls, who, dressed in gorrilla masks, work to promote greater representation of women and minority artists in art exhibitions. 1 videocassette (36 min.)

MEDIA 2-3102

 

Hidden heritage the roots of Black American painting 1990?

Andrew Piddington, David C Driskell, and Maureen McCue

Traces the work of Black American artists from the American Revolution to World War II. Places the artists' individual achievements in the context of social change, abolition of slavery, Jim Crow laws, racial violence and segregation. 1 videocassette (52 min.)

MEDIA 2-2231

 

The Highwaymen c2003

John Hambrick, Spencer Christian, Everglades Media, WLRN-TV (Television station : Miami, Fla.), and Janson Media

Examines the work of the Florida landscape painters known as the Highwaymen, a group of young, untrained African-American landscape painters. They emerged from the small central Florida town of Fort Pierce in the late 1950's and early 1960's. They were prevented by segregation from selling their paintings in traditional art galleries. So they sold their paintings out of the trunks of their cars, usually for around $35 a painting. They painted on wallboard. In 1995, the Highwaymen became recognized by the art world and their paintings sell for thousands of dollars. The Highwaymen mainly painted Florida back-country scenes, using bold strokes of dramatic colors. 1 videodisc (58 min.)

DANA 287

 

Horace Pippin there will be peace 1998

Linda Freeman, Horace Pippin, David K Irving, Brock Peters, Joshua Stone, Tom Campbell, and Judith E Stein

This video profiles the artist Horace Pippin. A self-taught artist, Horace Pippin's paintings reflect his own life and concerns.  Film clips, still photographs and Pippin's paintings illustrate the film. 1 videocassette (ca. 28 min.)

DANA. MEDIA 899 2-3176

 

In and out of Africa 1992

Gabai Baaré, Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Taylor, Aladji Abdourahamane, Christopher Burghard Steiner, and Lucien Taylor

Story about Gabai Baaré, a merchant who brings wood carvings from West Africa to sell in the United States. 1 videocassette (59 min.)

DANA 1695

 

Large-scale projects Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen 1998?

Lana Jokel, Nick Doob, Claes Oldenburg, and Coosje van Bruggen

Claes Oldenburg and his wife and artistic collaborator, Coosje van Bruggen, explore the mystery and power of everyday objects by changing their sizes, shapes, and textures in surprising and unsettling ways. The film shows various works from conception to installation. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

DANA 1689

 

Latino artists pushing the boundaries 1995

Juan Carlos Garza and Ray Santisteban

The first segment of the program, "Poets' cafe," visits the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe on the lower east side of Manhattan. Poets Ed Morales, Carmen Bardequez, Willie Perdamo, Pedro Pietri and Miguel Pińero read from their works. The second segment, "ASCO," describes the development of the 1970's Los Angeles visual arts/performance group of that name (Spanish for nausea) through interviews with its four members: Harry Gamboa, Patssi Valdez, Gronk and Willie Herron. 1 videocassette (30 min.)

DANA 707

 

Money man 1992

Philip Haas and Belinda Haas

Profiles the work of artist J.S.G. Boggs, who makes one-sided copies of United States currency, then attempts to spend his bills by convincing people that they are valuable as works of art.  According to the artist, it is the successful spending of his bills that makes them complete, giving them greater artistic and monetary value for collectors.  The artist is also shown in Washington attempting to get five of his confiscated bills back from the Secret Service, and visiting the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-2543

 

The "New Negro" arts movement 1998

Wanda M Corn

Between WWI and WWII nearly 2 million blacks migrated to Harlem making it an exciting and culturally rich neighborhood. Although there was still much bigotry directed towards blacks it was the first time that America saw the potential for major art to come out of a great black community. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-5111

 

Not a rhyme time 1999

Sheila Curran Bernard, Denise A Greene, and Vanessa Williams

Between 1963 and 1986, a cultural revolution began as black artists challenged mainstream aesthetics, identity and power, and ultimately defied the very notion of a mainstream. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-4294

 

Not for sale feminism and art in the USA during the 1970s 1998

Laura Cottingham, Mary McEntire, Sally Sasso, Leslie Singer, and Yoko Ono

Presents the art, artists, and activities of the feminist art movement of the 1970s. Includes interviews, slides, and archival footage. 1 videocassette (88 min.)

MEDIA 2-3565

 

Painters painting 1989

Emile De Antonio

Illustrates and examines the work and ideas of several modern abstract expressionist painters, including Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Robert Motherwell, and Andy Warhol. 1 videocassette (116 min.)

DANA. MEDIA 449 2-759

 

Post no bills 1992

Clay Walker, Marianne Dissard, and Robbie Conal

A film about painter Robbie Conal, showing him in the process of creating his politically-oriented paintings and displaying his paintings on city streets. Includes recorded speeches by the political leaders he satirizes, along with his statements about his art. 1 videocassette (ca. 57 min.)

DOUGLASS 151

 

The Promised land 1997

An eight part series presenting American history through its visual art, painting, sculpture, architecture and monuments. In this second segment early settlers in the "Promised land" strive to carve out an identity in a virgin land while in the West, Spanish missions use art to convert the natives. In the East, plain Protestant settlers are suspicious of art's pleasures while in Virginia, an exiled aristocracy, strives to recreate its ideal of England. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-4079

 

Reflections 1977?

A short film that explores the representation of women through art.  It deals with the exploitation of women, the politics of beauty, and women's liberation.  It explores such issues as:  Does beauty bring happiness?  Does a relationship with a man necessarily mean happiness?  Does being liberated mean being ugly? 1 videocassette (15 min.)

MEDIA 2-931

 

The Republic of virtue 1997

Robert Hughes and Mark O Hatfield

An eight part series presenting American history through its visual art, painting, sculpture, architecture and monuments. This first segment examines some of the first images made in America which resemble ancient ones. Jefferson and the founding fathers felt that classicism gave the young nation power and authority.  In Washington, D.C. architects adopted and transformed the classical style to serve a new, democratic ideal. Hughes explores the work of artists and architects, Benjamin West, John S. Copley, Charles W. Peale, Thomas Cole and Charles Bulfinch. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-4078

 

Robert Motherwell and the New York School storming the citadel 1990

Robert Motherwell, Catherine Tatge, and Jonathan Epstein

This program from the PBS American masters series explores the Abstract Expressionist movement and presents a portrait of its most important artist: Robert Motherwell (1915-1991). Featured are Motherwell's last major interview, archival footage and photographs of other maverick artists (Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline), of Greenwich Village where they lived, and of events that shaped their lives. 1 videocassette (56 min.)

DANA 744

 

Running fence 1978

Christo, Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, and David Maysles

Follows the artist, Christo, through the concept, building, and showing of his objet d'art; a 24 mile long, 18 foot high fence of white fabric stretched across the hills of California. The project was conceived as a work of art for Sonoma and Marin counties and took nearly four years to complete.  Once finished and after a period of time, the fence was taken down and the materials were given to the people whose land the fence was built on . 1 videocassette (59 min.)

DANA 909

 

The Screen painters 1989

Elaine Eff

Chronicles the beginnings, the heyday and the decline of an urban folk art unique to Baltimore, Maryland--the practice of painting landscape scenes on window and door screens. Profiles seven artists: Albert Oktaver, Johnny Eck, Ben Richardson, Ted Richardson, Tom Lipka, Frank Cipolloni, and Dee Herget. 1 videocassette (30 min.)

MEDIA 2-1161

 

The Stone carvers 1990, 1984

Paul Wagner and Marjorie Hunt

Documents the work of a small group of Italian-American artisans who have spent their lives carving designs on the Washington Cathedral, a gothic monument begun in 1907 and still under construction. 1 videocassette (29 min.)

DANA 270

 

Strand under the cloth 1992

John Albert Walker and Paul Strand

A documentary portrait of the photographer Paul Strand which demonstrates his profound contribution to modern photography.  Includes many of his most famous photographs, clips from his films, and interviews with friends and collaborators including Fred Zinneman, Cesare Zavattini and Georgia O'Keefe. 1 videocassette (81 min.) ;

DANA 314

 

Strand under the dark cloth 1992

John Walker

A documentary covering Strand's life and work from his early associations with Stieglitz and O'Keeffe through his last years when, in failing strength, he continued to use his camera. It includes extensive display of his most well-known photographs, clips from his films, and interviews with friends. 1 videocassette (81 min.)

DANA 737

 

Streamlines and breadlines 1997

Paul Goldberger, Philip Johnson, Robert Hughes, Jack Levine, Vincent Campanella, and Robert Rosenblum

An eight part series presenting American history through its visual art, painting, sculpture, architecture and monuments. This sixth segment examines the mythic images of the 1920's and 30's as skyscrapers rise in New York and the rural heartland is idealized by Regionalists like Thomas Hart. Artists of the WPA celebrate the worker as hero, while Jacob Lawrence tells stories of black America, and ambitious New Deal projects like Hoover Dam project self-confidence in hard times. Also examines the work of Raymond Hood, Edward Hopper, Stuart Davis, and Grant Wood. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-4083

 

Style wars 1983

Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant

Focuses on the graffiti subculture of New York City. Includes interviews with graffiti artists and break dancers, along with documentary footage. 1 videocassette (69 min.)

MEDIA D-397

 

Voices in celebration 1991

Aviva Slesin

Provides a witty and often idiosyncratic journey into the workings of a major museum, revealing its history, its dedication to building and conserving a permanent collection, and its commitment to creating a lively center in which people can see, study, and most importantly, enjoy great works of art. 1 videocassette (45 min.)

MED