Video History Project

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Van McElwee

Van McElwee creates complex and esoteric video art; he transforms electronic fragments of the visual world into contemplations of how we receive and perceive visual information. An artist who continues to experiment with the possibilities of this new art form, McElwee uses this technology for very personal explorations of the dynamics of sound, motion, and time. Reconstructions: The Video Image Outside of Time comprises a continuously running, single-channel videotape and 27 photographs.

The photographs come from the videotape via computer-manipulated digital files. Slides, made from the computer files, are used to produce the photos - all Cibachrome prints. In the videotape, interiors shot by the artist in the United States, Europe, and India are connected into a fusion of images seen in nonstop forward motion.

A counterpoint to this visual journey is the stopped electronic images in the photographs, each a graphic composition of computer color and texture. Although the motion has stopped and the viewer's vision is allowed to rest on a single moment, the intriguing stills continue to be as enigmatic and confounding as the roller-coaster ride of the videotape.

McElwee has been producing and exhibiting experimental video since 1976. He has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including The American Film Institute Independent Filmmaker Award. He is professor of media at Webster University in Saint Louis. http://www.VanMcElwee.com.

Cite this record

"Van McElwee." Video History Project, Experimental Television Center, 2011. https://www.videohistoryproject.org/van-mcelwee.

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Summary

Van McElwee is a video artist whose work transforms electronic fragments into explorations of sound, motion and time. Reconstructions: The Video Image Outside of Time comprises a single-channel tape and 27 Cibachrome photographs made from computer files; the tape links interiors shot in the United States, Europe and India into nonstop motion while the photographs present stopped electronic images; McElwee has produced experimental video since 1976, received numerous grants and awards including The American Film Institute Independent Filmmaker Award, and is professor of media at Webster University in Saint Louis.

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Last modified 18 June 2011

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