From Sky news.

This is connections I'm Patrick Hoskin in for Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour was made by Nathan Lyons in 1969.

The Rochester based photographer was working at the George Eastman Museum and assembled a visual studies master's program, but resigned before it was fully implemented.

He started his own school in collaboration with its earliest students.

It was called the Photographic Studies Workshop.

At four Fulton Street in the neighborhood of the Arts.

Artists would come, work would be shown in exhibitions, and a press would be founded by John Lyons to highlight the work of the visual artists.

The organization itself would come to be called Visual Studies Workshop, and settle into a new building at 31 Prince Street, a stone's throw from the Memorial Art Gallery, and in its 50 plus year history.

If you had stage hundreds of exhibitions, published hundreds of books and been a hub for continuing education for many years, the nonprofit media arts organization offered a graduate degree, first through Suny Buffalo and then Suny Brockport, though that's been discontinued.

But the archives housed dozens upon dozens of film reels, photographs, transparent glass positives called lantern slides.

Many of the analog visuals have been digitized and are available to view online right now.

Those efforts are ongoing, and artists from across the world still come to VR as part of its Project Space residency.

To make use of these vast archives in their work.

And I do feel like I'm only kind of scratching the surface in terms of 50 years of history as well as ongoing things, but I tried to get as much of it as I could in there.

We'll get into it momentarily.

all of this sets the scene for the new chapter that begins this month, when the organization reopens at 36 King Street in the Susan B Anthony neighborhood.

The first exhibition in the new space is called Sequence Break.

It's billed as a dynamic multi-media exhibition featuring works by artists who challenge mainstream and commercial video game culture through various means.

And it's all in keeping with the ways that VR has evolved beyond photography and video art to reflect creative work and the visual realm.

Like video games, for example.

so a lot of information on how everyone's up to speed, to discuss all of this.

I'm very lucky to be joined by folks from the team, advise and sure talk past, present and future.

We have Nelson.

Carol is here, assistant curator and preservation specialist at VR and also the curator for Sequence Break.

So thanks for being here.

Yes.

Thank you.

Ernest Davis is, the assistant curator and residency coordinator at VFW.

Thanks so much for being here.

Thank you.

Jessica Johnson is the executive director at VFW.

Thank you for joining us, Jessica.

Thanks, Patrick.

And Tara Miranda Nelson is the curator at VFW and managing editor of VFW press.

Thank you, Tara, for being here.

Thank you Patrick.

So to my knowledge, no one in this room has been at VFW since 1969, right?

So just yeah, so we know we can speak from experience from that far back, but there's something to be said about kind of the continued evolution and growth.

Obviously the new move is a part of that.

Jessica, you've been at the helm for a couple of years now.

2022, I believe you took over.

Yes.

That's right.

maybe we can start, by laying out just a little bit of what is the mission now?

Okay.

visual studies workshop.

the mission is to nurture experimental and expansive approaches to photography, film and media arts, and to build community among artists and the public through exhibitions, publications, and residencies.

And our vision is for a society that values the human need to create and share ideas.

Cool.

Can you pull it just a tad bit closer to you?

Feel free to.

There we go.

Okay, perfect.

Okay.

So, Yeah, I appreciate that.

That kind of sets the scene for a lot of the work being done in in conversation with a lot of the work that has been done in the past.

you know, we spoke when, the move was announced and we reported it, for city.

there are many reasons for the move.

As I understand, it was at least partly motivated by, you know, part of that mission being, the, the public accessibility aspect.

So can you talk a little bit more about that, too?

well, with our, you know, we're in a big transition because of, sort of a, shift with the closing of the MFA program.

We no longer needed a building that is 25,000ft .

it's a, you know, a massive space.

it's, was built in 1914.

So there's a lot of, you know, upkeep and just without all of the students, it really wasn't appropriate.

And it, so we had been planning to, find a new space.

And one of our goals was to be in a facility that is more accessible, more, sort of outward facing.

That's one of the things that we're really trying to do is, is invite the community in more.

And the new space does that.

and I that's really helpful to know because, sort of to bring everyone else in the conversation like that aspect, bears itself out on the work that you all do.

And the work that you do is in part to, you know, encourage that sort of accessibility in the public.

So maybe, I don't know, to maybe do you want to start and just maybe talk about your work as it relates to that mission and kind of that accessibility aspect?

Oh, yeah.

Sure.

I'm the curator, and I also program the salon series, with my colleagues.

I also oversee, as managing editor, the VFW press.

a major part of my, work over the past 11 years.

I began as a visiting artist at, in the in the residency program, and I was overwhelmed with the, amazing archives and how lucky I felt to be able to explore them.

I'm a film filmmaker.

I work in media and installation.

and the at that time, 11 years ago, this collection was harder to access.

it wasn't really, available online.

So, many of my predecessors and students at VFW had been programing from the film archive for a very long time, as a way of providing public access.

And I continued that and working with, especially with Jessica, as collection, she was then the head of collections.

We really and teacher also who was the director at the time.

We really worked on opening up the archive and creating accessible opportunities for the community.

most of the collection came from the public realm here in Rochester.

So the 16 millimeter film collection mostly, came from, the Rochester Public Library system as well as universities, University of Rochester and Suny Brockport.

and so their educational films and their, films that are pink and scratched and well-loved and, well, you know, a lot of people maybe grew up in the library going to see these films.

and we decided that we should really open that up again.

And we created the Community Curator program in 2018, which is a program that basically does just that.

We, facilitate access to the community.

people can program their own screenings.

we focus on community groups, working with them and, helping them sort of fulfill their mission and reach their constituents through, programing from the film and video collection.

So you mentioned, first coming as a visiting artist.

You said I did.

I was a visiting artist.

What was it like to be able to kind of experience that archive you mentioned being struck by a do you remember a little bit about that experience?

Yes, it I mean, it was I thought I had just died and going to heaven.

I was like, it was a dream come true.

I worked in, super eight and 16 millimeter, and that was my background.

and I could I mean, the previous building is a castle, and it was full of treasure.

It was amazing.

And I, I was just so privileged to be able to, you know, watch these films and care for them.

They they were well cared for.

But, you know, they films each.

And they need constant care.

and what was really exciting for me is not my practices also in, you know, having, sharing opportunities and through sort of programing.

So to bring other artists through, to show their films and to use the collection as well, which is something that we also do currently in our salon program in the In Dialog series, which is invite practicing artists to use the collections and show their work alongside, films, videos, lantern slides, and other elements of the archive.

And so something that you said made me think of the first time that I was in, the Prince Street location.

Nelson helped, along with Mary Lewandowski.

We sort of walked through being really struck by these really tall racks of film reels and then just sort of being.

And I know, like, we're in Rochester, it's like I it's a very film, like Heavy City that I feel like I should have known this, but I had no idea of like the wild things that happen to film and the chemicals and film, when it's well-loved is a good way of putting it.

Or just when it's old or like, maybe not maintained.

And so a lot of the like, the preservation in those things, like being such a big part of it too, was a really interesting thing to learn.

part of what, part of what as what we've talked about in the past is a lot of the, the, the project space residency, bringing in artists, and you sort of like, you're that's something that you had up.

You helped liaise with a lot of these artists who were coming from all over the world.

Yes.

what is a lot of that?

What are those conversations like?

Are a lot of folks familiar with the work and they they're very excited to get here with these archives, with these specializations.

are they experiencing it for the first time?

Yeah, it runs the gamut.

So not all of the artists that are a part of the residency come in with the intention of using our archives, our collections, but it is something that, quite a few are aware of.

and so when they apply for the residency, they often will put that straight into their proposal.

or there are maybe artists who, when they get here, maybe I, Tara, Jessica or Nelson, something will stand out about their work where we will introduce them to something in our archives that they could possibly, engage with as material or as context.

because it's one of the things that I have learned as an artist, who, my, my first time engaging with me was, as an exhibiting artist and, my previous experience with Vsba was mostly through reading after image, knowing about the critical history.

so I, through the years have gone to learn about the collections and the archives that we have here, and also about the importance of artists engaging with archives and collections as, a way of contextualizing and even helping us learn about the archives.

so one of our most recent, residents was, Melissa Ferrari, who we've spoken about, who is a magic lantern.

so, as we previously mentioned, that we have these positive slides, glass slides called lantern slides.

I think during her time here, she was probably, in my experience, the most knowledgeable, lantern slide person I think, that we've ever had in the building.

and while she was here, we were introducing her to certain things and subjects that we have in our collection.

But she also was teaching us about, lantern slides technically and also historically.

And she's someone who projects as a part of her practice, and learning from her about an actual contemporary projection that she was making while she was here was something that was a really wonderful dialog, kind of a back and forth.

not saying that it's ideal is just something that the archives that we inflections we have or something that enhances, our artists, even even if they're some, even if it isn't something that they actually use in their work.

it's always something that is enriching and engaging and generative in some kind of way.

And I think she's a great example because, yeah, she's her work is so projection focused.

but it's also like using really old technologies in a very new way.

Yes.

it's a great case for one of the many kinds of art that can be made, not only just with the, like, archives, kind of as a part of that, but a lot of the art W continues to lift up, whether that's through, you know, film reels, video tape, like whatever the medium is, there's a lot of this stuff going.

And so kind of to get to that, sort of to extend that a little bit.

Video games being a big part of this continuation of visual media art.

and that's, that's sort of the foundation and a lot of the work that's on display for Sequence Break.

But this that's just really like the latest one in the Nielsen.

A lot of your work, your personal work, but also a lot of the work that you've brought to you has been experimental video game art.

Yeah.

So I, my relationship relationship with VW started when I, became an MFA student in 2016, and my art practice up to that point had been really heavily involved with making video games.

And I was always really interested in this idea of artist games or experimental games or games that were sort of outside of the realm of, you know, commercial games that you go to, you know, you go to target and buy, right?

and so, I'm always thinking about ways to sort of both make and champion and teach about like ways to make video games that are not sort of in those commercial realms.

And so a sequence break, it's a group show of five games, and each of the artists is sort of approaching, you know, making video games in a way that is very sort of not industry focused and very sort of different, than, you know, normally how we how we engage with video games, you know, we usually engage with video games, you know, at home.

So for sequence break, you're sort of going into an art space, you're going into a gallery.

it's, you know, it's public.

So it's, you know, in my mind, sort of related to the arcade, which I think is sort of like, it's something that I feel a great sort of loss, actually.

We're really lucky in Rochester.

We have a couple arcades.

there's a great arcade in the strong Museum of Play, and there's also a great arcade at, it's, well, swill burger.

Yeah, sure.

As a fantastic arcade.

you know, but I, I love the idea of the arcade because it's a place where folks can sort of meet up, you know, it's like it's a gathering place.

It's a place for events and folks sort of share and learn from each other and can talk about what they're seeing and sort of play together.

and I yeah, I just think that's, you know, a lot of what we sort of, a lot of how we deal with video games is only online and is only sort of it's like a solitary, you know, and so the pull that pull video games out into sort of a real life situation, the sort of community situation I think is just like, it's really fantastic.

And I'm excited to to see where it goes and to sort of grow that community here in Rochester.

And I love, I love that you mentioned it's not we're not talking about games that you get at target or like, you know, Electronics Boutique or whatever of, of my childhood.

but so we're talking about something like the barnyard barnyard, a pop up, arcade.

That was last spring.

Yeah.

And that was fun.

I wish I played a video game where it was a it was a wheelies skateboard.

It's got skateboard.

So that was that was the controller.

And then there was also and I forget the name of this one, but the one where the, the object of the game was to cook a chicken finger.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

There was sort of a mini game where you're, you're manipulating the game and as you're playing the game, if you're winning, it's attached to a microwave and you put a single chicken nugget in the microwave, and as you're winning the game, it cooks the, the chicken nugget.

And then if so, if you finish the game, you get to eat a chicken nugget.

That's, It was.

Yeah.

That was a great event.

I thought that was.

Yeah.

Just fantastic.

And and like, you know, and not to like assume the the like going there of like like what are what is that are like what are we talking about.

Because that's a whole like conversation that you don't want to have.

But but what I like I guess to flip that mentality to a more positive space, it's like that's a conversation though.

Like inherently you want to know not only how it works, you actually get to taste it, but you also get ideally talked to, you know, the creators about what are the thought processes at play for this game and kind of go from there.

And so that I think like goes and to that point, like in terms of, there is this.

So one of the upcoming, events, I love this.

It was we're talking about it's like it's a, it's sort of a demo with one of the game creators that's like the opposite of a speedrun.

Now, a speedrun is like where you kind of watch a game being played, like really quickly through on YouTube or like another streaming platform, but it's usually like you just watch and it goes really fast and it's sort of, I guess the I'm not a gamer, but I guess the goal or the, the, the, the goal of that is like that.

You get to see all the aspects of the game kind of in a quick and kind of like download that information.

But this is the opposite of that.

So what does that mean?

What does the opposite of a speedrun.

Yeah.

Well so it that sort of comes out of you know, when we're showing work, and we're sort of, you know, engaging with artists, you know, we want to hear from the artists, you know, we, we like artist talks and we want to hear about their process and what they're thinking about.

sometimes, like, technically, what they're doing.

you know, all these sort of aspects are really interesting, and there's this sort of, you know, when you look at a painting, even if you're not a painter, you can sort of understand or imagine how it was created, with a video game, often the case is just like, that is something that I'll never understand.

You know, it's this, like, magic thing that is very technical and complicated and I'm not a coder and I'll never understand it.

and so engaging with artists and video game artists and sort of just letting them, you know, play through their games.

And it's not really an artist talk, but it's a conversation with the artist, you know, as we're sort of seeing what they've made and just hearing about, you know, how they made things or even just what's interesting to them, like as they're watching the game.

I think, you know, it's sort of serves to demystify that process a little bit.

You know, one of the goals of Sequence Break is to, yeah, there's an educational aspect to it.

I want to encourage folks that are interested in games, but sort of feel overwhelmed by learning about them.

Like, this is a space to learn a bit about it.

Jessica is that is is that kind of everything Nelson just described the opportunity for that kind of engagement.

Was that sort of was that built into a lot of the thought going into finding a new space, the kinds of events that could be hosted at the new space, that kind of stuff.

Absolutely.

definitely.

I mean, the new space, is 8000ft .

it has, you walk into a gallery, so you're immediately, you know, in the art.

and then, there's a theater with seating for, for 80 people.

the space was purpose built to be a community center.

was originally the Frederick Douglass Resource Center, in the Susan B Anthony neighborhood.

so it's it's really a perfect space for us.

it really is going to enhance, I think, the experience of, viewing art and viewing films, it'll certainly be a really magical experience for our residents to be in this beautiful, comfortable, welcoming space.

there's so much to about.

yeah, just from walking in.

And I remember we had a conversation about this the entire you mentioned, like, you're talking about this, the Prince Street location, this kind of castle like building.

It's a very different vibe, I guess, than kind of this more not that a castle isn't welcoming because there's, like, sort of a sense of adventure or whatever.

Like what lies in there, whatever treasures might be in there.

But, yeah, that, that kind of welcoming, inviting atmosphere, I imagine.

Yeah, it's like a big part.

And so it's a you walk in immediately.

So because obviously, I guess we should say a lot of renovations happened in the lead up to this, like customization.

what?

yeah.

Like so, so walking into the space gallery and then kind of making your way through what else?

Like what else is new?

What are what are people experiencing as they go in.

Right.

Well, I'll tell you about it.

But everybody can come see for themselves on March 20th, when we open sequence break and, but yes, you walk in, to a bright, open gallery space and then there's a large, hallway that takes you down to the theater.

the theater has a, we put in a projection booth that is, capable of showing many different formats of film and video.

it's it's going to be very comfortable.

It's raked seating.

So, the the view of the it's just a much better place to experience the artwork.

there's also room for our archives, which we've talked about a little bit, our, you know, our access policies really create, special opportunity for artists and the public to use this material in ways that, most collections don't allow such use.

so, yeah, it's just it's going to be a really wonderful space.

We're very excited to invite the community in.

And so a couple times now, we talked about the collection.

We talked about the archive.

Can we maybe talk a little bit about and maybe expand on Terry, what you were saying before about what you might find in the collection?

So I we've talked a lot about the objects.

We're talking about slides, lantern slides, different film reels, videotape.

What what is often on those, those mediums that comes with educational films are they feature films, documentaries?

Well, the 16 millimeter collection is largely educational films that came from the sources I mentioned.

So they were used in classrooms.

They were used in libraries.

sometimes we have what's called a reduction print of a feature, which would have been reducing from 35 millimeter to 16 millimeter.

So we do have feature films, you know, Casablanca and King Kong and those kinds of, classics, as well as, really a handful of rare films, avant garde films, short films, some, films that were locally produced or made here in Rochester by perhaps VSB students over the past 56 years.

One in particular I'll mention, is a film called About Us, which was made, at Visual Studies Workshop with, Robert Frank, the artist and filmmaker and photographer who was actually a, a visiting, he did a workshop.

I mean, he was, a friend of Nathan and Jones and came in 1971, to do a workshop with our students.

And the workshop resulted in a 38 minute, black and white film that is really made by the students in the style of Robert Frank.

I mean, with with his collaboration.

And he's present in the films and it's it's really a masterpiece.

And that's, the only film that you ever produced ourselves.

and we had it preserved also in 2018.

So that print is available, but we do also love to show it.

so, you know, those kinds of unique titles.

we also have a handful of home movies and we love home movies.

And if anyone wants to donate home movies, we're definitely a place that would be interested in that, especially if you're from the region.

what's really unique in our collection and our moving image collection is the videos.

the video collection.

we have over 6000 titles.

and I have 13 formats now.

so multiple formats going all the way back to the old WXXI nos.

This because they came from here, the two inch, master, video tapes from the studio.

but the collections are very special to us.

Specifically, the Portable Channel collection.

Portable channel was a group of media activists here in Rochester, active from 1971 through about 1986.

We have 1200 tapes from this collection.

and what is found in these tapes are unique materials made, by, people who were motivated to make their own media at a time when they had the means to do so for the first time.

So when Porter packs those old half inch open reel video recorders became available, the ethos there was to make your own media and to promote it, you know, among yourselves, but also to try to show this, so it wasn't being represented, until vision, and in popular media.

And they were successful in doing so.

And in fact, it's kind of the founder of Portable Channel, Bonnie Klein was able to work with WXXI and, have a program here on, I think it was called channel 1222. channel 20 and 22.

Yeah, 21, channel 21 oh 2121 and yeah, it was it was a it was a, an opportunity for, for regional and local programing.

And at the time, again, half inch video was really hard to show on, in studio.

So Bonnie convinced WXXI to zoom in on the screen.

They would bring in their own, players in a little monitor and they got the, the friendly and generous, producers here to give it a shot.

And they zoomed in on the screen.

And this is 1972, the very first, documented, potentially very first documented, instance of half inch open, real community produced media being shown on public television.

Huge.

yeah.

And that was called homemade TV.

We have, over 50 episodes of that preserved.

we do in-house media preservation.

So we're able to digitize these and they're all available on, on our website via 4G.

And that's just one of our most exciting collections.

We also have, other regional, activist collections, specifically TV dinner.

They worked with, Metro Justice.

We have 1200 tapes from that collection, and so much from the artist realm as well.

So lots of video art from New York State.

This brings up something that I actually have been thinking about.

this is slightly more academic question, but the parallel are are there a lot of parallels between when video tape was becoming accessible because of camcorders in these early sort of, precursors to what became like a little digital camcorders?

Are there was there a likewise a, I guess, an optimism sort of a democratic optimism with the advent of the camera phone?

Oh, the camera, you know, like a like a cell phone camera.

No, I mean, because this idea of when everyone can have one and that kind of thing, certainly, I mean, like citizen documentary journalism really blossomed when the porter pack, when you could just really easily.

I mean, it wasn't super easy with the Porter pack, but it was easier to, capture, you know, the world.

just like the phone made it easier.

So I think definitely there are parallels between the advance of that technology, you know, as technology advances, certainly.

That is definitely the case.

I'd like to just mention, just briefly, some of our other collections because we have, you know, a research library with 7000 books.

We have a 6000 artist books that come from our activities with Visual Studies Workshop Press and Joan Lyons.

that is a really important, collection.

We also have photography, over a million photographs, photographic images in various formats.

we have also an incredible collection from our 56 years of students.

So we have the trace collection, which represents most not all, but most of the students that came through Visual Studies Workshop.

and we have, so much more.

So it's, it's really, you know, a really significant collection and very unusual for an organization of our size to have that sort of material.

And it was something that Nathan was very passionate about.

After he left, the Eastman House was developed to develop these materials, to serve the activities of the workshop.

We're speaking with some members of the team, visual studies workshop here on connections.

we have to take a quick break.

when we get back, we will talk more a little bit about future, and maybe we'll talk a little bit more about sequence break in kind of video game art.

So we'll take it back.

We'll take a break and we'll be right back.

I'm Megan Mack Monday on the next connections.

How has social change affected church membership and how do religion and politics intersect?

Should they?

Our guest is Spencer McBride.

He's a historian and author and a podcaster who explores the theme of religion and American politics.

He joins us to discuss his work, religion and politics, and culture wars and its impact on Americans.

Talk to you Monday.

Support for your public radio station comes from our members and from Mary Carrie Ola Center, providing education and life skills solutions designed to empower individuals and the families of those with complex disabilities.

Mary Carrie Ola, center transforming Lives of people with disabilities.

More at Mary Carrie ola.org.

We're back here on connections talking with folks from Visual Studies Workshop.

We have Nelson, Carol, Inez Davis, Jessica Johnston, and Tara Miranda Nelson.

Thank you all for being here.

We were just talking a lot about what is found for you in the collections, in the archives.

more than we could say here.

We could spend the next 20 minutes talking about what's there.

a great way is to check out the online archives or go visit.

and so, yeah.

So I guess that's something we probably should have set up front.

So March 20th big day, right?

If you want to see this in person, that's the day to do it.

That's the sort of official opening of the new location at 36 King Street and Susan B Anthony neighborhood.

It's March 20th is the opening of the sequence break, exhibit, although there is an event tomorrow.

Right.

That is, sort of like the unofficial kickoff.

It's a, it's a, an online event before that.

Yeah.

We are doing our first serve sequence break event, tomorrow, at one, it's going to be streaming online at Twitch, which you can find the information about at for S.W.

dot org.

I'll be sort of doing an inner interview panel discussion with artists Hart Street, which is, for artists from New York that, have, made a game called, out for delivery, which will be featured in sequence.

Break in this game is pretty fascinating.

Just reading a little bit about it.

It sort of ties into the, the origins of the Covid pandemic.

yeah.

So it follows, a delivery person in Beijing, the like the day before the outbreak, before the pandemic started.

And so people are starting to as the delivery person is going throughout their day, you sort of hear like murmurs of like, oh, I think there's like some things happening, like we keep in word pandemic.

and, one of the artists in Hart Street is following and documenting that delivery person's day.

And so the the game is actually a sort of interactive, 360 video following the delivery person.

So players are able to sort of look all around and sort of follow the person on their on their little bike and through like they go, you know, through buildings and they pick up food and it's just, it's such, I played a lot of video games and I've never played a video game like that.

So it's it really excites me personally to see something like that.

So speaking of video games, we have an email from a fellow, Patrick, who says, the only time I've ever seen this game, which is a Michael Jackson based version of like, The Simpsons arcade game, or maybe the Ninja Turtles arcade game with all Michael Jackson's, I believe, 2 or 4 players.

The music was epic.

The special moves were moonwalk, spinning, throw the hat.

I wish Wilbur would pick this up so I could have beers and play it.

The only time I ever saw it was, in a hockey arena in the early 90s.

Are you familiar with this game?

I actually do know that game.

Do you remember what is they called?

Do you remember?

Not after the game like that, but it jogs.

Yeah.

The gameplay.

I can picture it for sure.

Yes.

Very cool.

Maybe we'll see it at, well, Burger.

Maybe we'll see it.

A version of it if but it has a good soundtrack I would have.

Oh yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

There was also a thing where I think Michael Jackson's didn't he like, also like surreptitiously do the music for one of the Sonic games or something.

He may have contributed the music for that.

Yes.

That's, I think that's true.

It might be an urban legend.

That's true.

I think it might be true.

It's true that it is talked about.

But whether or not it is true, if it is true, is the jury's still out on that one.

yes.

I like the I like the description of sequence break as a, an exhibition.

It's I'm just going to read a sequence break is a dynamic multimedia exhibition featuring works by artists who challenge mainstream commercial video game culture through genre expanding experimental play, radical esthetics, and the use of DIY counter capitalist methodologies.

The exhibition offers an in-person opportunity that is unique to the contemporary experience of playing digital games, while opening a broader dialog with a virtual audience through streaming artist talks, workshops and gallery tours.

So we talked a lot, a lot about that element, the community elements, sort of getting to know it.

The the methodologies is really interesting too.

So we're talking about, yeah, these, these DIY, these sort of more fringe methodologies.

and you were saying before, like, not I guess.

Does that are they immediately able to be pegged as such just by looking at the graphics or the gameplay?

I mean, visually speaking, kind of esthetically, is it are these kind of easy to, to peg as like, this seems like it might be like a DIY thing?

it, I think it varies from game to game, but I would say that all five of the games in the show do not look like.

Yeah, mainstream games.

Okay.

I think each one of them is sort of operating in a different way and sort of approaching, game making as an artist differently.

you know, for instance, what's a good example of Hard Street, I think is a, you know, really sticks in my mind is like, yeah, I've never played a game that is 360 video that I can sort of look around and move around in, on the back of a motorcycle following a delivery person, you know, even without the the sort of the backdrop of the Covid pandemic looming, like that's just really fascinating.

It's a fascinating document.

and it's just, it's there's something really humane about it.

You know, we're sort of moving away from like, you know, we think about video games, we think about shooting and violence and winning and sort of, you know, getting money and it's like sort of amassing points.

And each game in sequence break, you know, doesn't really have anything like that.

You know, it's sort of a different way to engage with these sort of digital artworks.

and I would say too, that, you know, there's a long tradition of artists working with video games.

You know, I think the conversation often will be like, this is a new thing.

Like, I've never thought of this before.

but, you know, looking back and sort of, experimental art that is sort of tech focused, you know, there were artists making video games in the 80s and definitely in the 90s, and then through the 2000s.

And so the five games in sequence break are from the past couple of years.

a lot of them are from the 2024. but there's a long history of artist games.

and so I, I think it's important to sort of understand that context and to, I mean, they're VR has a history of artists making, you know, video games.

so it's there was a really fascinating show in 1993 at VW, an exhibition curated by, Brian Goldfarb that was all about, MIT interactive medical, software and video games that, taught folks about Aids and, like, Aids prevention.

And so the, you know, artists and medical professionals and coders would work together to create these arcade cabinets that would go into gay bars, and folks would be able to play through these sort of scenarios and make decisions and see, like, and learn about Aids prevention.

And so I, I always think about that as like super forward thinking, both for them to make those games.

But then for, you know, Brian Goldfarb at VR to show that work in an art space as an art exhibition, it's like, yeah, super forward thinking.

Yeah, very much so.

and just to, I guess, close the loop.

the Michael Jackson game was apparently called Moonwalker.

Perfect.

Just, Yeah.

So no, no, no.

so.

And I love hearing about, how how experimental video games and different ways of thinking about video games have been so ingrained in video art or, I guess, visual visual art or media art, since long before they sort of became this, like dominant sort of cultural force that they are the multimedia or multimillion dollar industry, sort of as it is now in the mainstream.

there's also, you know, and again, like we've been talking that's just one sort of aspect of what we're, we're talking about here.

Another one I love.

Aaron, as we talked a little bit about last summer when, new, crop of, project space resident artists were being announced and talking about their work, we talked a little bit about this idea of open studios and of sort of being able to come in again, go back to accessibility.

You know, people from the public coming in watching an artist at work.

there's one coming up, right.

It's, April 10th.

Yes.

So and that is with Sydney, Mieko King, who is our upcoming resident at the will actually be our first resident in the new space.

Okay.

Yeah.

Very cool.

So what does that look like to you?

As far as you can tell, yes.

So, an open studio, and this is great because, again, you know, the gamut of the artists that we, accepted into the residency are, you know, emerging, mid-career, established.

And I just had this conversation with one of our artists about what is an open studio.

When is it for and so open studios are essentially a way for artists to open up their see your space quite literally open up the door.

because the studio, especially in our residency, is one where we leave them alone, as much as we can.

We also welcome them to engage with us.

But we really want it to be an open space where they can come here and make work, use our resources and, and engage how they would like to engage with their, with their work, with their, with their practice.

and so open close allows the public to come in and to, talk with the artists, walk around, look at what, they've been making, ask questions.

get to know them.

it can be.

It's up to the artists, really, how they kind of shape their open studios.

Some artists like to be very casual, and others like to make installations or some combination of the two, but it really is an opportunity to again, as Nelson was saying, like, talk to the artist, learn about their practice.

it also is a way of demystifying, what an artist is or who an artist looks like, how an artist works.

because, for every opens, for every residency that we have, we we do give them opportunity to open up their studio.

and so we invite people to come each time to see how different they are and how different artists work, how different the space, how they transform the space and how different they choose to represent themselves during open studios.

and so, yeah, it is one of those wonderful community, engagement things that, that we would like to that we like to give opportunities for artists to, to open themselves up to the public and also to let the public actually meet with our artists personally.

And then sort of paired with that same night.

Right.

There's a screening of films, by the video artist Peggy Ash, and then there's a conversation between, Peggy.

Tara.

That's right.

And that also coincides with our most recent film art book publication through Visual Studies Workshop Press, which is Peggy Hour, which is sourcebooks.

we publish artist books.

and this is our most recent, publication.

She.

Peggy, is a an artist, filmmaker, video artist.

and also graphic artists.

She was formerly a resident as well.

And when she came for a residency, we, got to know her work a little bit deeper in her on the side of research.

The source books are basically, publications of facsimiles of her research, over almost five decades of filmmaking for five of her most, well known films, some of which you'll be able to see that night, including she puppet, which is, 2000 film featuring the, the video game Tomb Raider.

it's a feminist take on, the life or the the travails of Lara Croft.

it's a it's a really influential piece.

the source books actually looks at, the research behind her, her work, which is a really important part of Peggy's practice and any artist's practice, really.

And I think that is goes to this Demystification is we we think artists, you know, maybe go into a well-lit garret above, you know, in some Parisian, you know, with a baguette, and a bottle of wine and, you know, really they're, they're they're working very hard and deeply and, in so many different ways.

in this book really, I think reveals, one artist's particular type of research.

She's very, deeply concerned with theory.

and visual and sort of how theory plays out in sort of visual media.

And she, kind of applies those too, in her work.

So, please do come, April 10th, it's going to be an amazing opportunity to both experience, a resident and, and in their, in their own studio and then see, our most recent publication in an amazing program of films by Peggy Ellis.

And she will be there in person.

And so we.

Oh, yeah.

And if I could add one thing about Sydney, so Sydney also is an example of the kinds of artists that we tend to support.

So she is a photographer, but is very expansive in how she uses photography and then will be, as someone who deconstructs cameras, works with Camera Obscura, and also works in the dark room.

And so she's someone who, the work that she's making really deals with, traces of the body.

And so she's someone who's been, crafting very specific kinds of lenses.

and this is something that I'm really interested in seeing, because her, her past work also deals with, you know, leaving out, film and, unexposed film in a room for a really long time.

And then, or even the way she installs things, it's really, sculptural.

So, I just would encourage people to come through and see, how she installs the space and also the types of images that she's able to make, during her time in residency.

Yeah.

And that's, that's also.

Yeah, the the way that artists make the space their own in the way that they choose to present work.

And that actually, I was going to ask, I mean, we have working artists in this room too.

So obviously you can all refute this myth of, you know, an artist with a baguette and, oh, yeah, I don't have the cappuccino.

And there's a lot of work that goes into any what what you're seeing, as someone who's viewing the art, is a highly distilled, you know, end result of a lot of that practice.

Essentially.

Yeah.

And an open sea is a great opportunity to kind of get a little bit of background into that.

especially if you're interested in, our practice or you're interested in just what's on the wall or what's in the middle of the floor, or how they even got here.

And in their experience in Rochester, and Visual Studies Workshop, I'll say, is a great place for you yourself, whether you identify as an artist or not, to kind of have, you know, follow your own kind of process of creative process.

Everyone has one.

and that's what our collections are for.

That's what, what the workshop is founded on is sort of creative inquiry and why we have these collections.

We have these collections for the public to engage with and to think critically about.

And, we really are so excited about our new space at 36 King Street.

being a place where the public can come do research, explore what, the collections, might, you know, speak to them.

And it really does depend on everyone has, you know, we'll discover something new for themselves.

Are there particular, challenges or opportunities of of being a working artist today?

especially in your chosen mediums?

I mean, is there I don't know, I mean, it's really easy to show that, but.

And I'm not.

We have six men.

That's why they all have second job.

So that's a big one.

Financial of course.

Economic.

But I mean are there.

Yeah I but I guess like maybe technologically speaking there are opportunities to always be, I guess, pursuing new ways of of exploring art and especially when it comes to media art and visual art, as the tech kind of expands, if you choose to go in that direction with emerging technology.

Yeah.

which artist that's open jump on this one.

I will say that there's, there's a pretty robust online community of artists that are willing to sort of discuss and share and show how things are done.

definitely all the artists in sequence break engage within these sort of DIY games communities.

tool building is really important.

and sometimes artists, you know, they make tools and they don't necessarily make art that is like, you know, how we think about like an art project.

They build tools for communities to use and show how they're how they're made.

And I think all of the artists in sequence break sort of, you know, rely on that kind of, you know, the sort of DIY ethic of showing, showing how it's done and sharing, you know, knowledge, know.

And that might be a good.

So I wanted to make sure we sort of left space here at the end to talk about, 2029 is four years from now.

It will be the 60th, I guess 60th.

Yeah, 60th anniversary.

You know, we're we're talking about a new space, sort of with that comes sort of natural, you know, opportunities of of framing it as a new chapter, that kind of stuff is sort of what we've been doing.

are you thinking about that or already in terms of the anniversary or just is it more like I'm just really excited to open the new space?

At the moment, I have not I don't know if anybody else has, but I have not been thinking as far ahead as 2029.

Very hard to even say.

maybe in a couple months we'll start thinking about that.

We are thinking ahead to next year where we're we're planning next summer.

We are thinking about doing a, alumni celebration, an exhibition to sort of honor all the people, the many, many, artists that and then have come through Visual Studies Workshop, many of which are still in the community here in Rochester.

And so that's something that we're planning for next summer.

We also do have another exhibition, after sequence break, that's going to be in the fall that Arnaz's curating with three artists.

Yes.

so do you want to say something about this?

I'll just, because there will be more about it, but, the title, it is featuring three artists who are working, or gauging with diasporic conversations, in their work there.

it's a mixture of photographic and filmic artists, featuring Claudia, Claudia, Claude, Amy, who is based in Madrid but has roots in Cuba and Puerto Rico.

and also was, a project space resident, Samantha Box, who, was born in Jamaica.

But, is has been living in the US and also was a, project space resident.

And then the Liza Alida Rodriguez who, is born was born Angola and is based in London.

but all three of these artists are photographers and film makers who are talking, having diaspora conversations, Spanish speaking, the, diaspora conversations in African diaspora conversations.

and they're all sort of engaging with, movement, migration tradition.

and how does one maintain, a connection to where they are from, when they are not able to be there?

And so, yes, it's just a, a really wonderful group of, of artists.

and that will open in late September.

Okay.

and yeah, that's upcoming.

Yeah.

That sounds great.

so opening in late December before that, as we've been talking about, March 20th is the day that we as new location, 36 King Street sequence break is the new exhibition.

I want to thank my guests from Visual Studies Workshop, and I'm going to refer to my notes here to make sure I get their titles.

all correct.

Tara Miranda Nelson, curator at VW Managing Editor, VW press Jessica Johnson, the executive director of Swinton, as Davis, assistant curator and residency coordinator of DSW, and Nelson Carroll, assistant curator and preservation specialist at the Who and the curator of Sequence Break, which again March 20th is the day.

So thank you all for joining.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Patrick Hosking here sitting in for Evan Dawson.

Thank you for listening to member supported public radio.

This program is a production of WXXI Public Radio.

The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of this station.

Its staff, management, or underwriters.

The broadcast is meant for the private use of our audience, any rebroadcast or use in another medium, without express written consent of WXXI is strictly prohibited.

Connections with Evan Dawson is available as a podcast.

Just click on the connections link at WXXI news.org.