Videos

World of Art - Works in Progress

10 parts, each 30 minutes

Program description: World of Art: Works in Progress was produced in 1997 for Annenberg/CPB. Although seven years old, it remains fresh and vibrant. Each program in this series is devoted to a contemporary artist who creates one or more works of art, oftentimes from start to finish. There are ten programs, each 30 minutes. Unfortunately abstract expressionist painter Milton Resnick died recently.

Listening to the artists and observing them at work provides insight into the artworks themselves. The series penetrates the world of the contemporary artist - how the artist effectively tackles visual communication, solving problems they face in their work of art, why they do what they do, why they have chosen their particular medium. The series includes painting, photography, sculpture, video, and performance art. The artwork is exciting, reflective of its time (turn of the 21st century in the U.S.) As one performance artist says: "as performance artists we can always justify what we do as extreme esthetic behavior, and really speak the truth." At times it is provocative. We advise that each program in this series be previewed for audience suitability.

1. Lorna Simpson, photographer, explores the ambiguous terrain connecting words and images in large-scale landscapes silkscreened on felt.

2. Guillermo Gsmez-Peqa, Mexican performance artist, poet, journalist, and activist, calls attention to relations between the U.S. and Mexico.

3. Bill Viola, video artist, combines video and sound in intriguing ways, as seen in The Greeting, a piece created for the Venice Biennale.

4. Hung Liu, painter, comments on traditional Chinese society as she paints a series of works on the Last Emperor and his court.

5. Beverly Buchanan, photographer, sculptor, and painter, focuses on an important symbol of rural Southern culture: the shack.

6. June Wayne, printmaker and painter, reveals her interest in science and scientific discovery as she works on a new print in New York City.

7. Milton Resnick, died in 2004, one of the longest living members of the New York School of painters, also known as the Abstract Expressionists, creates five large oil paintings over eight months.

8. Judy Baca, painter and activist known for her mile- long mural in Los Angeles depicting Chicano history, works on two public art projects in Southern California.

9. Goat Island, a performance group that uses visual imagery, music, dance, and narrative, rehearses and performs a new piece on a U.K. tour.

10. Mierle Ukeles, artist-in-residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation, works on an installation at the Fresh Kills landfill.

Rights: Broadcast rights as well as educational rights