Infrastructure, Production, and Archive: American and Japanese Video Art Production of 1960s and 1970s

Author

Ann Atsuko Adachi, Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

10-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Program

Liberal Studies

Advisor

Amy Herzog

Subject Categories

Communication Technology and New Media | Film and Media Studies | History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology

Keywords

Art Production, Distribution, and Infrastructure, Digital Archive, Japanese Experimental Film, Japanese Video Art, Media Art, Video Art

Abstract

Focusing a study on the infrastructure of artistic production and maintenance opens a space in which to examine the relationship between artistic inspiration and knowledge making, the occurrences and the writing of its history. In the case of the comparative study of the emergence of Japanese and American video art, common artistic technique employed may indicate motivations derived from the technical possibility of the video medium, while the study of infrastructure demonstrates how large-scale funding, formation of archives, the establishment of systems of distribution and channels of education affect the emergence and development of video art as a genre. This thesis analyzes the synchronous and productive rise of video art in the U.S. and Japan from mid-1960s through mid-1970s, while problematizing the systems of knowledge formation and cultural maintenance that produced a different reception of the histories.

In reviewing the structure of cultural maintenance today, the digital field inspires an exploration of new avenues for models of infrastructure that is alternative to traditional institutional frameworks. The digital platform as a pedagogical tool, research resource, and discussion forum allows cross-linguistic understanding, networked scholarship, and open accessibility, suggesting an ideal method for knowledge making. Moreover, this thesis suggests the digital platform as a potential catalyst for a collaborative administration of archive and preservation of Japanese experimental film and video, proposing an alternative method of knowledge formation and cultural maintenance moving forward.

Recommended Citation

Adachi, Ann Atsuko, "Infrastructure, Production, and Archive: American and Japanese Video Art Production of 1960s and 1970s" (2014). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/400