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We could be everywhere

Freewaves and the Use Value of Video History

: by Kenneth Rogers :

There is an urban legend circulating about early video art that I have heard on more than one occasion but the veracity of which I have never been able to confirm or disprove. I no longer recall who first told this to me or exactly when, and I have never taken it upon myself to research the matter with any seriousness, knowing its verification would only diminish the story’s value. I’ve heard a few slightly different variations of it over the years, but the gist of the story is more or less the following: A prominent art collector forked over a hefty sum to purchase the first half-inch videotape used by Nam June Paik in 1965 for recording with his first-generation Portapak. Back in the early days of video, it was not uncommon to re-record over a single tape, so nobody, including the artist himself, had any record or idea of what was actually on it, and its content remained an utter mystery.