{"id":4756,"title":"Synapse 1970-1977: A Personal History","kind":"biblio","url":"https://www.videohistoryproject.org/chronology-and-descriptions-1974-1980-1997","version":"355ba6829c5aa1214636f8a0570199b6d71f4db70a1b34fe5a43fc859ab70b2f","modified":"2011-06-21T23:41:04+00:00","credits":[{"role":"Author","name":"Lance Wisniewski"}],"authorKeys":[],"subjects":[],"metadata":[{"label":"Publisher","value":"Innervision Media Systems, Inc.","url":null},{"label":"Place","value":"New York","url":null},{"label":"ETC archive","value":"ETC0966","url":null},{"label":"Group dates","value":"1970 - 1981","url":null},{"label":"Group location","value":"Syracuse, New York","url":null},{"label":"Group","value":"Synapse","url":null}],"citations":{"page":"\u0022Chronology and Descriptions (1974, 1980, 1997).\u0022 Video History Project, Experimental Television Center, 2011. https://www.videohistoryproject.org/chronology-and-descriptions-1974-1980-1997.","publication":"Lance Wisniewski. Synapse 1970-1977: A Personal History. Innervision Media Systems, Inc. .","risUrl":"https://www.videohistoryproject.org/citation/4756.ris"},"links":[{"label":"Program Chronology","url":"#Program","relationship":"record body link","contentType":null},{"label":"A Visiting Artist Program at Synapse","url":"#A VISITING ARTIST PROGRAM AT","relationship":"record body link","contentType":null},{"label":"Media Centers Move into the Eighties","url":"#Media Centers Move into the","relationship":"record body link","contentType":null}],"sections":[{"name":"body","source":"VHP record body","generated":false,"characters":21765},{"name":"summary","source":"existing VHP generated summary","generated":true,"characters":680}],"content":{"section":"body","source":"VHP record body","generated":false,"text":"\u0022Synapse was founded in 1970 by a group seeking to experiment with a medium of staggering, untapped potential. We began as a campus cable system and television studio; we soon became the nerve center for creative audio visual expression on campus. Our work, then, was similar to the process that occurs in the human brain - that is, where electrical impulses carrying information jump across a space that exists between the nerve endings. This space is the synapse.\u0022 -From a Synapse brochure. Formerly University Community Union Video, and associated with Syracuse University. Synapse operated in an academic environment, and was not a separate non-profit organization. The founders were students and began by equipping the color studio of the cable television system at the University. Support came from the University and State funding. Eventually, prior to 1978, the programs of Synapse were organizationally divided. The Visiting Artist Program was affiliated with the Newhouse School of Communications. The student cable programming remained with the University Union. Synapse offered to artists access to high-end, broadcast quality post-production equipment. This service was generally not available to artists at other media arts centers, which were working with small-format equipment at the time. People associated with Synapse included Henry Baker, William Dargie, Paul Dougherty, Bob Burns, Jay Busch, Pat Faust, Carl Geiger (co-founder), Dean Irwin, David Ross, John Trayna, Bill Viola, Gail Waldron, Darrell Westlake, Lance Wisniewski. Program Chronology Sherry Miller Hocking A Visiting Artist Program at Synapse Innervision Media Systems program brochure, 1974 Media Centers Move into the Eighties, Henry Baker program flyer, 1980 Program Chronology 1970-1974 Synapse operates as a student and community video center, an adjunct to the academic programs at Syracuse University. Carl Geiger, along with several other Synapse members, and Franklin Morris, a Syracuse University music professor, collaborated to produce \u0022Umbillicus\u0022 at a multi-media show at Automation House in NYC in March 1971. The environment included inflatables with video monitors. In 1972, Synapse began operating in Watson Hall. Operations were managed by Gail Waldron, Bob Burns and Lance Wisniewski. Synapse recorded music concerts on campus and also one at Attica Prison; Synapse has a portable system which was used to record the feelings of inmates following the Attica riot. The color studio was built. Bill Viola joined Synapse. Lance Wisniewski notes that important early conceptual underpinnings of Synapse included decentralization of media practice, two-way communication of information, and access. He also notes that there was continuing and on-going debate between those who favored more conventional approaches to programming and those who envisioned more experimental and creative approaches. (5) In 1973 Henry Baker organized remote coverage for Richard Nixon\u0027s second inauguration and the demonstrations in Washington. The program aired about Lyndon Johnson\u0027s funeral were intercut with images of the Vietnam War. Cy Griffin shot \u0022The Burning of Custer\u0022, a verite style document of the Indians\u0027 search for justice, a tape which was completed but not screened because of concerns about legal liability. 1974 Wishing to expand its offerings, Synapse seeks outside support from the New York State Council on the Arts. Synapse remained a program of Syracuse University, and received support for a visiting artists program. Artists included Tom DeWitt with a 3-D TV project; David Tudor\u0027s Rain Forest environment with Bill Viola; Dean and Dudley Everson integrated \u00BD\u0022 video with other media graphics in a work about Indian culture; Rita Myers made use of the two-way cable capability in a performance wherein she was monitored while sleeping and viewers attempted to influence her subconscious, while sleeping; Dimitri Devyatkin edited Suggestopedia; Phil and Gunilla Mallory Jones created St Louis Blues. \u0022But the Visiting Artists Program was hardly the driving force behind our individual activities. Carl Geiger was busy designing and building new electronic image making tools and producing an elaborate experiment called \u0022Multi-Origination Dance Piece\u0022. Gail Waldron was conducting workshops in women\u0027s video and a consultant for cable television. (5) 1975 With NYSCA support, Synapse began a program of providing broadcast-quality post-production support for artists\u0027 projects. \u0022Borrows, exchanges and rents \u00BD\u0022 (AV and CV), 1\u0022 and 2\u0022 tapes. Makes equipment (including an experimental color television studio with campus-wide two-way cable system and two portable black and white studios as well as assorted \u00BD\u0022 production equipment) available for use by University students, community residents, and artists. Offers technical assistance. Synapse cablecasts daily to the University community.\u0022 -Video Resources in New York State, 1976 1976 Synapse is described in Video: State of the Art (1976) by Johanna Gill as a \u0022well-equipped cable system at the University. Students there have received excellent technical training.\u0022 Staff mentioned here were \u0022Bill Viola, who is running Art Tapes 22 in Florence, Italy, and John Trayna, who is now technician at Electronic Arts Intermix in NYC\u0022. The cable system included \u0022a color studio which was built by the founders of Synapse when they were students.\u0022 (2) 1977 The Synapse Artist Visitation Program at Syracuse University was described in Videoscope, Vol. 1 No 2, 1977. Artists from all disciplines were invited to apply with a proposal. Stipends were available to artists in the Color Studio Production Program only. The equipment available in both programs was generally not available at other media centers which provided access to small-format rather than broadcast equipment. There were two types of participation: The Color Studio Production Program at Synapse Watson Studio - The program was begun about 1973, and provided access to \u00BD\u0022 portable color equipment, the two-way cable system and a studio equipped with color cameras, filmchain, broadcast quality switcher, chroma keyer, 1\u0022 recording decks, and processing and sync equipment. Post-Production Program at The Newhouse Communications Center - The goal of this program was high-quality editing, mixing or preparation for broadcast. Artists projects were selected for appropriate uses of the technology. Artists made application with a proposal; there was no stipend to the artist. Equipment included broadcast quality 2\u0022 editing system, 1\u0022 recorders, special effects generator, character generator, time base correctors and processing and sync equipment. Synapse maintained master edits, and a tape collection with copies of works produced through the programs. They actively encouraged wide distribution of work, especially broadcast. 1978 Director, Henry Baker. Production Director, Carl Geiger. Program provided access to \u00BD\u0022, \u00BE\u0022, 1\u0022 and 2\u0022 video equipment to individuals, by proposal. Facilities included a b\u0026w studio, a color studio, and audio studio and editing room, and character generator, time base correctors, and film chain which allowed artists to use small-format videotapes, and other media such as film. It was one of the very few facilities where artists could have use of \u0022high-end\u0022 production and editing technology. Synapse supported artists\u0027 projects which couldn\u0027t be accomplished at other video centers. Synapse engineers were the editors for the projects. Synapse had a videotape collection, and by 1978 were exploring the development of a distribution service. -Access. Nancy Legge Lance Wisniewski, in Videography (1978), outlines the following programs: Syracuse University\u0027s two-way cable television system and color studio Visiting Artist Studio Production Program Broadcast Post-Production Program at Newhouse Communications Center In 1978 the Color Production Program was suspended to assess its usefulness to the media community; the Post-Production Facility was recognized as unique and important, because access to sophisticated editing was difficult for artists to obtain. The editing system was significantly upgraded with an automated interface to the 2\u0022 decks, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Synapse also recognized the importance of being able to use \u00BE\u0022 feed decks directly in the editing system, since it was this format that was most often used by artists. Access to the studio and to engineers was provided to artists each evening, after the academic commitments of the day were met. The Synapse program was supported by the University, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. To determine which artists\u0027 projects would receive Synapse support and access, Synapse began to change from an open policy of \u0022first-come\u0022. To ensure that projects completed at Synapse received wide visibility, Synapse revised selection guidelines for visiting artists. Artists must have experiences with the video medium evidenced by past works, must have a specific need for the unique facilities, and demonstrate an ability to finish the project. Projects were expected to approach the medium in an innovative way, and artists were expected to be committed to broad public exposure and distribution of the program. Artists retained rights over the programs produced. Ownership of work at this time was an area of considerable controversy. Artists who used television station facilities to complete works often found that they had few rights over the distribution and exhibition of the work. In part because Synapse was founded by working artists, Synapse believed in the artist\u0027s rights to his/her work. Synapse found that often the organization did not receive credit on works created with their facilities. This began to have a negative impact on support and ability to distribute works, and Synapse looked for a compromise in terms of rights and ownership. During the late 1970s Synapse began to modify their agreements with visiting artists to include some broadcast and cablecast potential. Eventually the rights issues were resolved. Synapse retained a copy of the work, frequently the 2\u0022 master, and would provide dubs to the artist. Synapse had the right to lease completed work for three years, and paid royalties to the artist. 1980 Executive Director: Henry Baker 1980 \u0022Synapse is located on the campus of Syracuse University. This brings certain advantages, such as in-kind support and free space for the offices, and many restaurants, bars and other college-town amenities within walking distance for the user. (Says staffer Alex Swan, \u0022We show our producers a good time.\u0022) But there are also disadvantages. Synapse\u0027s main attraction - broadcast quality CMX computer editing, interface with 2\u0022 VTRs - is housed in and shared with the Public Communications School. Synapse grant recipients have access to the system from 6pm to midnight on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday only. As 2\u0022 editing is more cumbersome than 3/4\u0022, you should plan for several visits. This was the only place we visited that served a national constituency, awarding about 30 grants annually. In addition to a rough edit, applications should include resume, project description with approximate number of edits and types of special effects needed, shooting ration, and budget. Extensive planning and dialogue with the staff will ensure satisfactory post-production. A mandatory charge of $20 per hour covers the services of a professional engineer, a CMX editor and work tape. Other goodies available are film (16mm and Super-8) and slide (35mm) to tape transfer capabilities, and promotion of your finished product for sale or rent through Synapse\u0027s tape catalog.\u0022 Synapse made about 30 grants each year to artists for use of the post-production facility, which represented about $250,000 worth of services. Decisions about artists\u0027 applications were made by a peer review panel. 1981 Because it had never in","offset":0,"nextOffset":12000,"totalCharacters":21765,"complete":false},"rightsUrl":"https://www.videohistoryproject.org/terms-service"}