Het Beademenvan de Beeldbuis
Breathing up on the Tube

Description

"Boezem's face appears on the television screen. He stares at the viewer and breathes into the picture tube. After a while, the image fogs up and the artist's image fades for a few seconds. While the condensation disappears, Boezem continues to stare emotionlessly into the lens until his face is clearly visible again. The artist makes himself invisible as an object by means of his own breath. He tries to create a space that is not determined by a concrete image. The time between disappearing and appearing as well as the continuous sound of his breathing play an important accompanying role.

Following Gerry Schum, Dutch television produced, Visual artists make television under the direction of Frans Haks. In three broadcasts in 1971, artists who had previously worked with Schum: Marinus Boezem, Stanley Brouwn, Jan Dibbets, Ger van Elk and Peter Struycken were once again given the opportunity to show their art on television. Boezem's contribution in particular, Breathing the Picture Tube, has become a permanent part of Dutch video history after the broadcast.

The Netherlands Media Art Institute has included the work in its collection as a video (2’37”) on various media (and also in digital form). The Netherlands Media Art Institute also has material on 16mm film (3’00”). This 16mm film has been given to the film museum for use. This institution has decided to conserve this material and also store it digitally. The question arises whether the film material itself is an autonomous ‘work of art’ and the work can be shown as a projection, or whether this film should be seen exclusively as source material for the (television) broadcast."
(Source, website, SBMK)

Additional Informations

View still images from the work on SBMK's website

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