|
In their own words, "Artists' Television Access is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all-volunteer, artist-run, experimental media arts gallery that has been in operation since 1984. ATA hosts a series of film and video screenings, exhibitions and performances by emerging and established artists and a weekly cable access television program."
My experience with the gallery was mostly limited to participation in a 1988 three day event billed as "Festival of Plagiarism" for which I have Robert Strange to thank for 72 consecutive hours of mayhem.
I personally participated in over a dozen "happenings" but my two favorite include "Tube Peace" in which I plagiarized John and Yokos' "Bag" happenings and "Bed-In For Peace". I spent 24 hours in a bed in the front window of ATA sitting in a cloth tube, soliciting wanna-be Yokos and writing songs which culminated in an audience sing-a-long of "Give Meese a Chance" and "My Sweet George", the former being a cover of "Give Peace a Chance" with comedic lyrics to reflect Edmund Meeses' legal problems from his association with criminals and the latter being a cover of "He's So Fine" with comedic lyrics to reflect George Harrisons' legal problems from his song "My Sweet Lord" being a complete rip-off of "He's So Fine".
My other favorite was "Meat Joy", based on the original 1964 work by Carolee Schneemann which was performed before an unsuspecting audience by C.Olson C., Mo O'Leary, M Woody, Flame and Rob Strange (videography) utilizing:
- gallons of cow blood
- de-osculated cow eyes
- a 17 lb. sea bass
- assorted joyful meats and meat fragments
- an entire package of black trashbags that were taped together to form a 'blood-dyke' Hemo-containment zone on walls and floor
- enough white butcher paper to create blood soaked keepsake portraits for the finale.
| |
