In 1974, Open Circuits: An International Conference on the Future of Television gathered dozens of prominent artists, curators, academics, writers and television producers to discuss conflicting perspectives on the medium of artists’ video and its cultural impacts. Held at MoMA and sponsored by the Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), the event was considered a watershed moment in media theory and electronic arts.
50 years later, Open Circuits Revisited, a collaborative multi-day event, shared the same spirit and ethos of its predecessor. Sponsored by EAI, a nonprofit resource that fosters the creation, exhibition, distribution and preservation of media art, it was produced in conjunction with the NYU Department of Media, Culture, Communication and the NYU Center for Disability Studies.
A closed-panel discussion on accessibility was a fitting start to the conference. Mara Mills, associate professor for MCC who co-founded and helms the Center for Disability Studies, guided a conversation with a diverse cohort of artists, distributors, and archivists of electronic art. Participants included notable disability artists like Carolyn Lazard, Constantina Zavitsanos, Darrin Martin, Jordan Lord, Meesh Sara Fradkin, and Andy Slater.
Read more about Open Circuits Revisited in NYU Steinhardt News.
“Access Denied” from Unseen Sound by Andy Slater. The color of the screen is an homage to Derek Jarman’s 1993 film Blue. Sammie Veeler, Videography of Unseen Sound Video Walk-through.