ABC iview: Video Becomes Us

ABC iview today premieres a new arts shorts, Video Becomes Us.

Fifteen Australian video artists including Soda_Jerk, Dr. Christian Thompson AO and Vernon Ah Kee, show how they use video as a means for artistic expression and political agitation.

Each episode features interviews with Australia’s most exciting video artists including Reko Rennie, Soda_Jerk, Amos Gebhardt, The Kingpins, Sue Dodd, Darren Sylvester, Xanthe Dobbie, Joe Hamilton, Club Ate, Vernon Ah Kee, Caroline Garcia, Dr. Christian Thompson AO, Angela Tiatia, James Nguyen and Susan Norrie alongside excerpts of their work – some of which is being seen for the first time outside the gallery.

Video Becomes Us investigates how video art frames the ever-shifting political and cultural landscape of this country. In this time of rapid technological, environmental and socio-political change, this series looks at how video artists offer us new ways of seeing and re-imagining ourselves. If we are now all media makers, what does video tell us about who we are, and what we might become?

Video Becomes Us is co-written and directed by artist and Walkley Award nominated filmmaker Kate Blackmore, produced by Bethany Bruce and co-written and hosted by acclaimed video artist Eugenia Lim. The series also features an ethereal music score by Corin Ileto.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation in association with Create NSW present a Staple Fiction production “Video Becomes Us” a 5 x 10 min web series for ABC iview.

Episode 1 Cinema
This episode profiles the video work of Reko Rennie, Soda_Jerk and Amos Gebhardt who mine cinematic history to frame new representations of race, gender and cultural identity.

Episode 2 Music Video
through the work of The Kingpins, Sue Dodd and Darren Sylvester.

Episode 3 The Internet
We now live as much online as we do offline. Our online identities are no longer separate from our real lives, but an integral part of them. This episode focuses on artists Xanthe Dobbie, Joe Hamilton and Club Ate who work at the interface of art and the internet.

Episode 4 Documentary
Often what is left out of frame is as significant as what is told. This episode looks at the video work of Vernon Ah Kee, James Nguyen and Susan Norrie who use an expanded documentary mode to critique socio-political realities.

Episode 5 Performance
Video came into being in the early 70 as a wave of social movements swept the world. Fifty years on, Caroline Garcia, Dr. Christian Thompson AO and Angela Tiatia unite the personal and the political through performing for the camera.

Tuesday October 9 on ABC iview.