D'Amico has been making videotapes and writing about the
throughout the seventies. She
professor at the l)niversidad Central de Venezuela, as well as being a
journalist for the Diario El
one of the most influential
newspapers of Caracas. Her great
to organize and promote video
Venezuela deserve attention
appreciation. Months before the
launched a media campaign
clearly defining video and per-
Video performan ce by Carlos Zerpa
art in the popular press.
appear ed in many newspapers
magazines. Thus the incredible
appr oximately twenty hours
videotapes (for closed -circuit viewing) produced by forty artists. All
Venezuelans , excepting Pola
(Mexico) and Antonio Muntadas
Vigliarolo (United States).
afternoon and evening of the exhibition , there was "accion en vivo con
(video performance). Live performance employing video. In this
These artists were involved
examining and displaying the potentials of simultaneous closed-circuit
'imaging' of their live performance actions. Combining their livevideo presence
There were seven differCenterfo ld, June/July 1979
!tefd "Videos de Cuba" by Margarita D' Amico.
(right) "El Hombre Del Maiz", Diego Risquez
"Actores", a video performance by Hugo Marquez
Sonia Sanoje's video performance
performances. Each performance
conceived and actualised specifically for this exhibition. Muestra de
held in one large hall of
library of the University of
Central Venezuela (~enter city Caracas). UCV has a modest video studio
colour) serving a communications department of the university.
provided the equipment (what
technicians necessary to manage
Video Plastica", was conceived of by the artistic directors of
Servio Tulio Marin and Luis
much the same way as music
forms of music are seen as
Everythingbeingvideo is video,
exhibition recognises the many
video-performance video. Video
dance, as a plastic art. Video
theatre, photographychoreography.
10,000
Viewers
As far as
the audience is concerned, the people of Caracas watch a lot
of
television. Only black and whit!!
television.
There is no colour transmission. There are only four channels.
photo Irene
Sosa
Two are
owned by the government
and two are
privately owned. Other
than the
news, almost all the pictures
are film.
Programming is imported
from
America and Europe (some from
Mexico and
other S.A. countries).
Virtually
all the shows are dubbed. A
couple of
dramatic translators get all
the work.
The same voices play
everybody.
Bad voice tracks make for
horrible
television. Meanwhile, home
vi~eo
recorders (Beta and VHS formats) are stocked in the stereo stores
for the
people who can afford them.
The
Venezuelans with money have
colour
images with their new closedcircuit systems. The people on t
"Cada Salida .Necesita De Un Conjuro"
Luis Manzo/Waldemar Delima.
photo Irene Sosa
Sweet are
fascinated with the 'new'
colour
television. They love to watch
Elvis
movies and disco TV shows on
tape from
Los Angeles.
Video for
the 'Rich' and 'Poor'
North
Americans often complain
that there
is no real choice in respect
to
programming even in their comparatively 'rich' television environment.
Clearly,
the South American television
viewer
faces a media 'poverty' incomprehensible by North American or
Western
World standards. It could be
expected
that closed-circuit video,
the present
alternative to standard
broadcast
television, would have a very
limited
potential audience where electronic media literacy remains 'low',
i.e. in the
Third World. The impressive attendance figures for this videoperformance art
festival in Caracas
present a
hopeful view for artists in
so-called
'underdeveloped' countries
around the
world. In the Third World,
where
broadcast television is still in
its
infancy, perhaps video has a much
better
chance of finding its
246
World
ACCION EN VIVO CON VfDEO
(Video Performances)
-Sonia Sonoja: La maxima figura de
la danza i,ontempor6nea en Venezuela.
-Hugo Marquez y el grupo "Tiempo
Comun". - ''Cada Sa/fda Necesita de un Conjuro ":
acci6n en vivo de Luis Manzo
y Walclemar Delima.
-"Gesto y Hue/la": Novedosa experiencia de
integracion de la danza,
plastica y mus1ea Luis Villa,nizar y
Servio Tulio Marin,
-NYo Soy La Patria": Ritual magico
de Carlos Zetpa. - "El Hombre Del Maiz'': acci6n en
vivo de Die!:Jo R[squez.
"Mural- v;tra/ de Videoxerox Dedicado a la Memoria .de
Renny Ottolina":
La obra, producida por Margarita
D'Amico destraca el trabajo del Teatro
"N" de Paris.
VJDEOS PARTICIPANTES
1) Caracas Siempre, Grupo Saltamontes, Radio Caracas TV. 22'
2) Reflexiones, Antonio Jose Le6n.
20'.
3) $omos Mujeres, Pola Weiss (Mexico). 8'.
4) Todavia Estamos, Pola Weiss
(Mexico), 8'
5) Arte, Carburo y Sobriedad, Jose
Luis Briceno y Maria Casaqo. 25'
6) Sonia Sanoja, Danny Guarenas,
presentado por la Direcci6n de
Bibliotecas y Direcci6n de Cultura
ge la UCV. 50'
7) Actores, Hugo Marquez. 28'
8) Poema Para Ser Leido Bajo et
Agua, Diego Risquez. 27'
9) A Proposito de la Luz Tropical,
Homenaje a Armando Rever6nDiego Risquez. 20'
10) A Proposito def Hombre de/
Maiz, Diego Risquez. 15'
11) Dos Pueblos de Arem, (selecci6n).
Grupo Cinevideo-UCV. Cuatro
horas.
12) Videos de Cuba (selecci6n),
Margarita D' Amico. Dos horas.
13) Videos de San Jose, Margarita
D' Amico, Manuel Manzano, Marra
Josefa Perez. Dos horas.
14) Videoxerox Teatro "N" Paris,
Margarita D'Amico. 45'
15) Color de la Vida, Luis Goncalves.
10'
16) Mario Neira, Alejandro Kirk. 25'
17) Sensorial, John Moore, 3'
18) Expresiones, Diego Barboza. 10'
19) Videoliticos, Divisi6n Audiovisual
Biblioteca Central UCV, Cinevideo UCV y Grupo Gaspar
Marcano. 45'
20) Shhh • ..• Luis Vi!lamizar. 20'
21) Gesto y Huella, LuisVillmizar~
Servio Tulio Marin. 30'
22) Cada Salida Necesitade 1.m Con•
juro, Luis Manzo, Waldemar
Delima. 30'
23) Festival Folk/orico de Guayana.
Corporaci6n Venezolana de
Guayana. 23'
24) Musica y Belleza, Corporaci6n
Venezolana de Guayana. 1 O'
25) II Viso, Aldo Vigliarolo (Estados
Unidos). 9' .
26) II Passato, Aldo Vigliarolo (Es•
tados Unidos). 11'
27) On Subjectivity, Antonio Muntadas (Estados Unidos). 30'
28.) Alt1't Latinoamerfcano I Alfr~do
Portillos. CA YC de Buenos
Aires. 20'
29) Earth
Oven, vrctor Grippo.
CA Ye de Buenos Airres. 8'
30) Phitotron, Luis·Benedit y Jorge
Glusberg. CAYC <Je Buenos
Aires. 30'
31) Taller de Animacion, Marra
Cristina Capriles y Alberro Monteagudo. 27'
32) 1978, Gustavo Schwartz. Grupo
Viba de Buenos Aires. 30'
33) Dance Studio, Mario Cabrera. 5'
34) La L/egada de/ Columbus. Cantv, 8'
35) 78 Cultural. ·Cantv. 30'
36) Una Nueva Op
36) Una Nueva Opcion. Cantv y Elta
Rodriguez. 7'
37) Los Capullos de/ Jardin, Cantv y
Elba
Avendano. 30'
38)
Anti-Smoking Publicity, Tito
Rojas, Universidad de Nuev1t
York. 30'
39) The Venezuelan Cuatro and His
Music, Tito Rojas, Uoiversidad de
Nueva York, 11'
40) Germinacion de la Huella, Geo
Ripley. Presentado por el lnsti·
tuto Univer$itario de Technolo•
g1a de, Coro. 8'
41) Pijao, Geo Ripley. IUTC Coro. 8'
42) Creando Imagen con el Hilo de
la Memorla, Geo Ripley. IUTC
Coro. 7'30''
43) Medltaciones Breves, Geo Ripley.
IUTC Coro, 8'
44) Yo Soy la Patria, Carlos Zerpa.
25'
45) Senora Patria, sea ud. Blenvenida,
Carlos Zerpa. 25'
46) Bichos Bichos Bichos, Carlos
Zerpa. Una hora.
47) De Como Panchito Mandefua
Ceno con el Nino Jesus, Blanca
Guzman, Sixto Perez Sosa. 24'
Centerfold, June/July 1979
