From: Freya (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Oct 26 2005 - 14:02:19 PDT
>
> Most of Shirley Clarke's work resides in the archive
> at the University
> of Wisconsin (Historical Society). Although a lot of
> it has been
> catalogued, it has not been preserved. I've been
> researching the video
> work, which is for the most part in bad condition
> (3/4" viewing copies,
> some 1" masters that can't be viewed because the
> Society doesn't have a
> machine). Some of it is unwatchable. It's a shame
You mean deteriorated to a terrible condition?
Are these the only remaining copies of this stuff?
If you are viewing the only copies, or possibly one of
the only remaining copies of video work, then I think
it would be wise to play the work back into some kind
of recorder as you review the stuff, even if it is
another umatic with a brand new tape. A small DV
camera with analogue in could even be used, that way
it is at least some sort of digital domain.
Obviously every time you play this stuff back it gets
worse and often with old video material you only get
one shot at playback before it deteriorates past
usability.
There are special tecniques for video restoration just
like audio tape and film. Tape baking and stuff but
that requirs the help of specialists.
It's probably good that the 1 inch masters can't be
played as you don't really want to play them, you want
to just drop them off somewhere to have them
transferred straight to digibeta and dv.
> that the work of such
> an important artist is deteriorating. I would love
> to see a collection
> of Clarke's work on DVD (forgive me) like the recent
Nothing wrong with putting video's onto DVD IMHO, it's
just another video format and if the existing ones are
dying...
> one on Yvonne
> Rainer (which, by the way, I haven't actually had
> the opportunity to
> view yet). I know the Historical Society has the
> films and master tapes,
> and I assume they have the rights. Now, who has the
> money?
That's always a question, although it need not be that
expensive just to get the tapes as far as digibeta I
wouldn't have thought?
Do you know what kind of actual costs there would be?
love
Freya
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