30 Second Spots Joan Logue in collaboration with the artists

30 Second Spots

Joan Logue in collaboration with the artists.
1982, color, sound

Inverting the form, style and time frame of commercial television advertising, Logue has produced a unique series of dynamic video portraits of avant-garde artists, writers, musicians and performers. In 30 Second Spots: New York, which Logue terms “commercials for artists,” each of the succinct vignettes conveys the artistic essence of her subject with clarity, wit, and an elegant economy of means. John Cage, John Cage, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Spalding Gray and Nam June Paik are among the artists who are captured here with concise drama. Each subject performs in close-up before a stationary camera; Logue heightens this intimate theater with a precise application of subtle electronic effects. Steve Reich’s hands are seen in close-up as he claps out a syncopated rhythm; a dance gesture by Arnie Zane and Bill T. Jones is transformed into a sequence of color and texture; John Cage’s face fills the screen as she knocks on her amplified head with unexpected resonance. EAI ¹

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This title is available for exhibitions, screenings, and institutional use through Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), NY. Please visit the EAI Online Catalogue for further information about this artist and work. The EAI site offers extensive resources for curators, students, artists and educators, including: an in-depth guide to exhibiting, collecting, and preserving media art; A Kinetic History: The EAI Archives Online, a collection of essays, primary documents, and media charting EAI’s 40-year history and the early years of the emergent video art scene; and expanded contextual and educational materials.