Series Description
Xmas 1986
Thanksgiving, Winter Solstice, Christmas, New Year — George Kuchar never missed an opportunity for a celebration and a good meal. We invite you to vicariously partake of seasonal sensations, all but absent throughout this most strange of years. Watch in amazement as other people get up close to friends and strangers, enjoy communal celebrations and spectacular fireworks displays, and make merry during shared banquets and feasts. Join a cast of family members, friends, and flirty felines for petting, pumpkin pie, and partying protuberances, and enjoy all the awkwardness of the holiday season!
The Video Data Bank staff wish you and yours health, productivity and joy for 2021. We hope your future plans include more video art!
Happy holidays!
Abina, Lauren, Tamara, Tom, and Zach, and our fabulous student workers, Emily, Jake, and Peixuan
Featured titles
In Xmas 1986, George Kuchar’s mother Stella has come to stay with him for the holidays. After a series of dinners with friends, Stella’s repeated discussions about her shingles and Kuchar’s ominous film-noirish narration, Kuchar rescues the morale of a dinner party gone bad thanks to an undercooked ham by presenting his hosts with a very memorable holiday gift.
– Kyle Riley
Solstice is a music video illustrating the feelings inspired by this holiday song written by a young man I met in Atlanta, Georgia, Andy Ditzler. My students and I, at the San Francisco Art Institute, concocted the visuals to accompany the tune and the result should elevate all those suffering from blues of every shade and intensity.
Resources
The World of George Kuchar is a VDB-produced compilation featuring twenty-seven works on five discs. Curated by artist and educator Steve Reinke, the accompanying monograph includes essays by Reinke and Gene Youngblood. The compilation is available for educational and home purchase.
George Kuchar's videos are copyright of the Kuchar Brothers Trust, and are distributed in partnership with the Video Data Bank at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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