Vidicon Inscriptions

Description

"Over-lighting exceeds capacity for assimilation in a 1970s video camera and images are burned into the surface of its 'vidicon' tube. Here a unique property is explored where both the passage of time and trace of that continuum are registered as one.. . In this, the original tape, one of three sections records the image of the artist with a camera (via a mirror) panning, by stages, across the screen. Before movement the lens is covered and re-exposed after the change, and each time the image appears inscribed onto the screen" (David Hall, 1974, Source, website, Rewind)
"Vidicon Inscriptions in an earlier work in three parts which explores a particular property of the video camera. A source light, or overlit subject, will "burn" the image into the photoconductive surface of the vidicon tube. This introduces the unique facility to record both the passage of time and simultaneously fix the trace of that continuum." (Source: Video Art 78, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry, 1978, p. 12) (Source, pdf, Rewind)
"In the three parts that make up Vidicon Inscriptions each fleeting movement of the video camera or image (light trajectory) is incised on the sensitive surface of the vidicon (the retina of the camera). In the second and third parts the action is traced and retained for all time thus fixing this continuum of past and present as if it were a single image." (Source: Videotapes by British artists, Venice, Galleria del Cavallino, 1977) (Source, pdf, Rewind)
"A later tape, Vidicon Inscriptions (early 1975), explores a particular property (considered deficiency) of the camera's vidicon tube. The signal plate at the front of the tube is designed to register optical information and convert it to electronic signals. The range of its normal operation is usually limited to variations in reflected light. A source light, or overlit object will exceed its capacity for assimilation and the image can be temporarily, if not permanently, "burnt"" into the photoconductive surface. This introduces the unique facility ot record the "passage of time" and yet simultaneously fix the trace of that present and progressively receding past in the same camera at the same time. In one section of the tape the movement of a spot lamp about the screen marks the passage of time, and its trace is continuously retained. The last section records the progressively shifting position of the cameraman (seen through a mirror). Prior to each move the lens is covered and re-exposed after the change. At each stage the cameraman's past position is inscribed on the screen." (Source: David Hall, "British Video Art. Towards an Autonomous Practice", Studio International, May/June 1976, p. 248-254.) (Source, pdf , Monoskop)

Additional Informations

View still images from the video (Source, website, Rewind)

This video was the subject of a distribution contract by art/tapes/22, Florence, Italy signed by the artist on December 9, 1975. (Source, pdf, Rewind)

This video was later used in an eponymous installation.

View excerpts from the work on Youtube

Presentation place

- The Video Show, Serpentine Gallery, Londres, 1 - 26 mai 1975. - Videotape by British Artists, Galleria Del Cavallino, San Marco, 28 janvier - 3 février 1977. (Source, pdf, site web Rewind) - Video Art 78, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry, 6 - 21 mai 1978. (Source, pdf, site web Rewind)

Publications and Periodicals which reference the work

- David Hall, "British Video Art. Towards an Autonomous Practice", Studio International, May/June 1976, p. 248-254. (Source, pdf, Monoskop)
- Video Art 78, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry, 1978. (Source, pdf, Rewind)
- Bettina Gruber & Maria Vedder, Kunst und Video, Dumont Buchverlag, Köln, 1983. (Source, pdf, Rewind)
- David Curtis (ed.), A Directory of British Film and Video Artists, John Libbey Media, Luton, 1996.
- Joanna Heatwole, "Media of Now: an interview with David Hall", Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism, Volume 36, Aug/Sep published by the Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York, 2008. (Source, pdf, Rewind)
- Stephen Partridge & Sean Cubitt (eds.), REWIND| British Artists' Video in the 1970s & 1980s, John Libbey Publishing, East barnet, Herts, 2012.

Location resource

Collection ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien

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