"Texts, Bombs, and Videotape: Journeys into the Zone" -- Project around the First Gulf War -- Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (January-April 1991)
Scope and Contents note
Documents related to specific exhibitions, performances, and exchange of art. Subseries were created for individual events where DAX had major input and substantial material was kept. They are arranged by chronological order. All other projects are filed at the end, in chronological order.
Documents typically include papers and correspondence related to the planning of the event, publicity material and press coverage, catalogs and photographs, as well as the output of the performance, such as telefaxes and printouts of electronic messages and digitally-created images. Original faxes are interfiled with archival copies made by Matt Urbican.
Dates
- 1979-1991
Restrictions
None.
Extent
From the Collection: 5.0 Linear feet (5 boxes)
Language
From the Collection: English
Overview
In "Text, Bombs, and Videotapes: Journeys Into the Zone," the DAX group, along with many external collaborators, explored the morality and politics of war through a collaborative telematic art installation. Participants transmitted, received, and interacted with images and sound across the network using computer networks, slow-scan TV, Fax machines, and a Panasonic WG-R2 videophone (a prosumer piece of equipment that made the transmission of moving images and video possible for DAX in 1991).
The workstation on view in the gallery was connected to similar artist groups in Bristol, England; Vienna, Austria; Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Frankfort, Germany; Vancouver, Canada; Puebla, Mexico; and Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Ohio State University, Columbus. Additionally, Gallery installations were constructed at the Watershed Media Center in Bristol, England, and the Museum in Progress in Vienna, Austria. Artists throughout the global network addressed issues surrounding the theme of war and its aftermath in the Persian Gulf.
The installation was on view at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts in Pittsburgh, PA, between March 23 - April 21, 1991. Live exchanges via the global network occurred on Saturdays during the exhibit period. Materials from these exchanges were added to the installation as they were received.
Outside of the DAX core members, known collaborators for this project include John Bender, Richard Harned, Carolyn P. Speranza, and Carolyn Terner.
Repository Details
Part of the Carnegie Mellon University Archives Repository