Conceptual Art

Abscam (Framed) frames the FBI sting operation known as "Abscam" by mixing FBI surveillance footage of Congressman Michael "Ozzie" Meyers with footage shot by Lord at the Motel where the original sting occurred—in the process, inserting the artist into this moment in history.

Point of View: An Anthology of the Moving Image, produced by Bick Productions (Ilene Kurtz Kretzschmar and Caroline Bourgeois) and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, was conceived to make accessible the work of some of the most important artists working in video, film, and digital imagery today. Point of View is the first commercially available anthology of its kind, serving as a point of entry to these new works, and as an ongoing resource for museums, universities, and art schools around the world. 

As a document of an early performance, this video details the process of orientating the body and self in space, providing a physical metaphor for the process of adjusting oneself in society.

"Blindfolded, ears plugged: our goal is to sense each other’s movement and bearing, to attempt to assume the same movement and bearing. An off-screen voice, heard only by the audience, gives directions that would help us attain our goal."

—Vito Acconci, "Concentration-Container-Assimilation," Avalanche 6 (Fall 1972)

Baldessari has Ed Henderson examine obscure movie stills and attempt to reconstruct the films’ narratives. By removing the image from its ordinary context—in this instance the chronological flow of film time—the process of interpretation itself and the contextual meaning carried by images is examined. During these interpretative exercises, Ed Henderson urges the viewer to question where the meaning of an image lies: within the image itself or within the spectators’ reading of the image.

This title was in the original Castelli-Sonnabend video art collection.

There are times when concurrent multiple realities of place demand at least an attempt to determine who in fact has, and where is, this place in the sun. Hearts and Helicopters occurs at that moment in the lives of four people.

This title is also available on Lawrence Weiner: Hearts and Helicopters - A Trilogy.

The camera follows behind a woman on a mountain hike. An alpine peak can be seen in the distance. This piece uses the trope of the horror soundtrack to build a tension that is never released.

Laurie Anderson began as a downtown gallery artist, specializing in photography. She soon moved from creative to critical work as a writer for Art News and Art in America. She returned to the art world, making groundbreaking multimedia performance art. Her most famous work dates back to the early-to-mid-’80s and is marked by innovative use of technology in blending media-based and stage performance.