Media Burn, July 4, 1975
A video art piece examining the media, particularly Television news.
- On July 4, Independence Day, 1975, a "media circus" assembles at San Francisco's Cow Palace Stadium. A pyramid of television sets are stacked, doused with kerosene, and set ablaze. Then a modified 1959 Cadillac, piloted by two drivers who are guided only by a video monitor between their bucket seats, smashes through the pyramid destroying the TV sets.
Preceding the event are actual clips from various TV news broadcasts that covered it (most of the TV reporters make the comment that they "didn't get it"); coverage of the "media circus" at Cow Palace; and a speech given by an imitator of the late President John F. Kennedy who explains the message of Media Burn. -
"But the image created here shall never be forgotten."
This video receives the highest recommendation from editor Gary M. Santoro. Since 1975, technology, linguistic morphology, and social trends have re-combined to create the online publication Mediaburn.net (ISSN 1547-5980). The phrase "Media Burn" appeared in print publications prior to this 1975 video - the new 21st century form and its connotations have deep roots.
Ant Farm's Media Burn video has been included in this post as an RSS/XML enclosure. Run Time 25:44.
11:14:41 AM 
|
