As video takes over the world, I started to reflect on how long I’ve been involved with it - since I was about 19 in the early 70′s. I grew into adulthood first with indie video and then broadcast television when I became an editor in 1976. I was lucky enough to be on the ground floor of many technological and cultural trends associated with video which I’ll describe here in aVideoLife. And as I learned from my mentors at Synapse (Syracuse University) video also became part of my personal life. To understand this era, think Whole Earth Catalog and Steve Jobs with the Homebrew Computer Club.
There is a vanity project aspect to aVideoLife but is a video saturated world, the aim is to establish my bonafides as a veteran in the Video Culture. Inspired by my work with video artists, I had opportunity to create many original works, two of which are in MoMA’s Permanent Collection. All my work had a contemporary cultural charge that reflected my involvement in the original punk and then post-punk circles.
The last feature of my video life is that of a collector or archivist. I’ve amassed a large collection that I used in my work of early mash-ups and helped fuel an early manifestation of YouTube culture – the video lounge. The first on I can remember was created by my friends at Danceteria in 1980.
The last part of the journey was getting a Mac and a modem in 1986 and then going to MacWorlds and the Digital Be-ins in San Francisco… and on and on….
