Artists Space

Famous for 30 Seconds: Artists in the Media

January 25 – February 22, 1986

Artists Space is pleased to present Famous for 30 Seconds, an exhibition of videotapes organized by Carole Ann Klonarides, the second presentation of a new video program at Artists Space, initiated with funding by the New York State Council on the Arts.

A Video Exhibition
Organized by Carole Ann Klonarides, edited by Jeff Turtletaub

In Famous for 30 Seconds, Klonarides will present a selection of works that explore the image of the artist as viewed by a generation weaned on Prime Time. Actual commercial film and television material (.i.e. Lust for Life, Moulin Rouge, spots on Ripley's Believe It or Not! and network news) will be juxtaposed with tapes by artists on the subject of the artist and/or their artwork. Some of the tapes are influenced by established television formats such as the commercial, documentary, and news spots, whereas others directly collaborate with the artist (subject), using their work more as a departure point to create a unique work in-and-unto itself. Whether the tapes succeed in exposing the implicit ideology of the medium (prime time) or aim merely to enhance the image of their subject (artist), the series attempts to explore the "created" image of the artist.

Works included in Famous for 30 Seconds are by (limited listing): Don Munroe/Susan Etkin (Andy Warhol Television), Chris Dercon/Stefaan Decostere, Michel Auder, Jaime Davidovich (The Live Show!), Chip Lord, Brenda Miller, Antonio Muntadas, Joan Logue, MICA-TV (Carole Ann Klonarides/Michael Owen), Jeanette Ingberman/Paco Calo on such artists as: Laurie Anderson, Charles Clough, Elaine Lustig Cohen, Brian Eno, Suzan Etkin, Molissa Fenley, R.M. Fischer, Jack Goldstein, Jerry Kearns, Robert Longo, Richard Hambleton, Spaulding Gray, Leroy Neiman, Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons, Hunt Slonem, Michael Smith, Richard Prince, Andy Warhol and William Wegman...

The total series is four hours long and divided into 4 one-hour videotapes. Each tape is arranged to show representative works from the whole program such that viewing any one of the four tapes would provide comprehension of the entire series. Program notes will list the contents of each tape, The tapes will be available for viewing upon request during gallery hours.

Caroline Ann Klonarides is a video artist, the Director of Baskerville & Watson Gallery, and an independent curator of video. She has been making collaborative tapes on artists since 1980 with independent producer Michael Owen under the name MICA-TV. In 1984 she collaborated with artists Lyn Blumenthal and Ed Paschke to make the videotape "Arcade" which was shown on the "New Television" Series, WNET-TV. Her work has been screened in video exhibitions and festivals and broadcasted in the U.S. and in Europe.

Artists Space activities are made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal agency; the New York State Council on the Arts, the Institute for Museum Services, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Art Matters, Inc., the Jerome Foundation, Samuel Rubin Foundation, and The Wallace Funds; the American Express Company, AT&T Communications, Citibank, Consolidated Edison, EXXON, R.H. Macy Company, Mobil Foundation, Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, Faine Webber, and Philip Morris, as well as numerous Friends.

Artists Space is a member of the National Association of Artists Organizations (NAAO).