John Sanborn (media artist) explained

John Sanborn
Birth Date:24 November 1954
Birth Place:Huntington, New York
Nationality:American
Residence:Berkeley, CA, USA -->
Education:NYU, ESEC
Style:Abstract storytelling
Spouse:Sarah Cahill
Elected:Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

John Sanborn (born 1954) is a key member of the second wave of American video artists that includes Bill Viola, Gary Hill, Dara Birnbaum and Tony Oursler.[1] [2] Sanborn's body of work spans the early days of experimental video art in the 1970s through the heyday of MTV music/videos and interactive art to digital media art of today.[3]

Overview

Sanborn's work has manifested itself on television ("Alive from Off Center",[4] [5] MTV, "Great Performances", PBS), video installations ("V+M"),[6] "The Temptation of St. Anthony"),[7] video games ("Psychic Detective"),[8] [9] [10] Internet experiences ("Paul is Dead",[11] [12] [13] "Dysson"[14]) and multi-media art. He is known for collaborations with virtuosic performers, contemporary composers and choreographers. His oeuvre primarily addresses the themes of music, mythology and memory.

Background

In the late 1970s Sanborn was one of the artists-in-residence at TV Lab at Thirteen/WNET, an experimental environment started by the Rockefeller Foundation and Nam June Paik as a playpen for video artists to create works for broadcast television. He also created works for the VISA series (originated by Paik) and showed installations at the Whitney Museum, participating in two Biennial Exhibitions.[15] [16]

In the 1980s Sanborn was an artist-in-residence at the 1980 Winter Olympics "Olympic Fragments"[17] as well as one of the first directors with work appearing on MTV where he created over 30 music/videos including works with Nile Rodgers, Rick James, Sammy Hagar, Philip Glass, Tangerine Dream, Peter Gordon, Grace Jones, King Crimson and Van Halen. At the request of Jim Fouratt at the nightclub Danceteria, he created the first "video lounge" and hired video artists to VJ video clips and video art. The lounge became a cultural phenomenon in New York City.[18]

In January 1984 he contributed to "Good Morning Mr. Orwell,"[19] a live satellite TV event created by Nam June Paik. With Dean Winkler he orchestrated segments of the show, and their music/video for Philip Glass, "Act III", opened the broadcast.[20]

Long associated with experimental composers, Sanborn developed and directed "Perfect Lives",[21] the seminal opera for television, by composer Robert Ashley.[22] [23] Working closely with Ashley's "band" over the course of 5 years, Sanborn developed a visual language for the opera that set it apart when it premiered in 1983 and has made it an iconic and influential work ever since.[24] [25] The full opera took 5 years to make its way to television, with a "pilot" called "The Lessons"[26] setting the stage for the original work.[27]

Sanborn went on to create his own media operas, including "2 Cubed" commissioned by the electronic arts festival Ars Electronica, in Linz Austria.[28]

He created performance-based video works for the PBS series "Alive from Off Center" including "Untitled" with Bill T. Jones,"Fractured Variations and Visual Shuffle" with Charles Moulton,[29] "Geography | Metabolism" with Molissa Fenley, "Luminare" with Dean Winkler and music by Daniel Lentz,[30] [31] and "Endance" with Tim Buckley.[32] [33] "Sister Suzie Cinema"[34] created for "Alive TV" with Lee Breuer and Bob Telson won several awards, including the 1986 Mayor's Medal for the Arts in New York City.[35]

Sanborn's practice has always included collaboration with other artists, including John Zorn, Nam June Paik, Philip Glass, Twyla Tharp, Peter Lynch (director), Peter Vronsky, David Van Tieghem,[36] Mikhail Baryshnikov, David Gordon,[37] and The Residents which continues to this day.[38]

Sanborn worked in the early days of High-Definition Television, creating works for SONY ("Infinite Escher"), and NHK-TV. Electronic Arts Intermix has distributed his video art since his first project, "The Last Videotapes of Marcel Duchamp."[39] In 2016 Heure Exquise began distributing his work in Europe.[40]

In the 1990s Sanborn worked in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, developing technology based entertainment start-ups (imoviestudio, The Wireless Fan Club), interactive movies ("Psychic Detective") and some of the first web-based interactive content ("Paul is Dead")[41] as well as a sit-com for Comedy Central ("Frank Leaves for the Orient")[42] and pilots and scripts for Columbia Tri-Star, USA Network, MTV, MGM ("Stargate SG1"), and the National Lampoon.

A project launched by LaFong (Sanborn's partnership with writer Michael Kaplan) was "Dysson," an interactive story where the audience was injected into a murder mystery via e-mail and chat bots. Enrolled without their knowledge into the experience, the response was vivid and reactionary, including a harsh pushback from Eric Idle of "Monty Python" fame.[43] [44] [45] [46] [47]

Current work

In the 21st century, while continuing to make art, Sanborn became a corporate creative director for public companies. In 2000 he built a digital division for the basic cable network Comedy Central, and developed in house creative agencies for eBay (2003–2006) and Shutterfly (2006–2014), where he retired with the title of Vice President, Creative Services.

While Sanborn was working in Silicon Valley, he continued making media art, including a collaboration with pianist Sarah Cahill "A Sweeter Music."[48]

After returning to making media art full-time Sanborn created "PICO" (Performance Indeterminate Cage Opera) a 90-minute live performance "happening" in celebration of the centenary of American Composer John Cage. The work featured 8 musicians, six video channels, 32 dancers and over 90 audience participants. It premiered before a sold-out house at the Berkeley Art Museum in 2012.[49] Sanborn then turned the live event into a video memoir that played at film and video festivals worldwide.[50]

His feature length works "MMI", "The Planets", "PICO (remix)" and "ALLoT (A Long List of Things)" have played at over 150 international film festivals including the Mill Valley Film Festival (Audience Award), the Houston Worldfest (2 Gold Remi Awards), the Seattle, London, Victoria (Best Experimental Film), Tribeca, and Sundance Film Festivals.[51] [52]

"MMI" is a feature film about Sanborn's adventures in New York in 2001, focused on death and the redemptive power of family.[53] The work premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in 2002 and was reviewed by Variety, "Avant-garde in form yet poignant, funny and accessible, normally acerbic experimental filmmaker John Sanborn's short feature "MMI" unites the political, the personal and the philosophical in one deft package. Reflection on his tumultuous first post-millennial year—one that encompassed a cross-continental move, stressful new job, deaths and 9/11—is an inventive audio/visual collage that carries real emotional heft."[54] MMI has been selected to screen at over 20 festivals worldwide, including the Tribeca Film Festival (founded by Robert De Niro) in 2003. [55]

"A Sweeter Music", in collaboration with pianist Sarah Cahill, is a live performance work with Sarah playing new compositions on the subject of peace inside a 3 channel video projection for each composition. The work premiered in January 2009 at Cal Performances,[56] and has played in New York at Merkin Hall, Rothko Chapel, Spoleto Festival USA, Dickinson College and the Mill Valley Film Festival.[57]

Sanborn's newest works are media installations addressing questions of identity, cultural truth, memory and the lies we live with every day. "Alterszorn" is a five-channel meditation on aging and the nature of the emotional rewind.

"V+M"[58] is a retelling of the story of Venus and Mars, but with cross-gender couples.[59] The work investigates the balance of power in relationships, the nature of myth making and the origins of desire.[60] The work premiered at Videoformes in March 2015,[61] and showed in San Francisco at SF Camerawork in November 2015 and most recently at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre as part of the major exhibition "Shifting Horizons: The Media Art of John Sanborn".[62]

Sanborn is collaborating with New York-based composer Dorian Wallace on a series of media operas, intended to be installed as multi-channel works, as well as performed live. The first is "The Temptation of St. Anthony (or Tony's Troubles)" a version of the classic story that asks the question "what is faith without god?" Anchored by vocal performances by Paul Pinto (Tony) and Pamela Z (the Devil) the work is sung in a mash-up of 18th-century chamber vocal music and pop song. Choreographer Robert Dekkers uses metaphoric movement in a parallel framework, integrated by Sanborn into a three-screen projection system to describe the emotional toll of Tony's journey. The work premiered at the Palais Jacques Coeur in Bourges, France as part of the exhibition "A Tale of Two Cities" in 2016.[63] [64] [65]

Sanborn is currently working with gallery scale works, most recently with producer Elisabeth Kepler. His show "Ligne Droit et Cercle"[66] ran in March 2017, featuring intimate studies of consciousness and what we hide from ourselves in order to survive.[67]

A monograph about Sanborn called "Méandres et Média, L’œuvre de John Sanborn" was published in 2016, edited by Stephen Sarrazin and published by Bandits Mages, with contributions from Jean-Paul Fargier, Florian Gaite, Pascal Lièvre, Dara Birnbaum, Bill T. Jones and many others.[68]

Honors

John Sanborn has been granted an honorary Masters of Cinema degree from the ESEC in Paris and has been named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the Minister of Culture of the Republic of France.

Collections

Selected exhibitions

2017

2016

2015

2012

2011

2009

2004

1997

1995

1990

1989

1986

1985

1983

1981

1979

1978

Selected works

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sarrazin. Stephen. Shifting Horizons: music, myth, and memory.: The media art of John Sanborn. Bangkok Art And Culture Centre. BACC.org. 1 July 2017.
  2. Web site: Carlier. Isabel. EXPOSITION A TALE OF TWO CITIES, UNE EXPOSITION DES OEUVRES DE JOHN SANBORN. Bandits-Mages.com. Bandits Mages. 1 July 2017. October 2016.
  3. Web site: Panera. F. Javier. Video Killed the Painting Star. Visual Arts and Video Clip Aesthetics. Art Pulse. 23 May 2017.
  4. News: Holden. Stephen. VIDEO ARTISTRY SPARKS A NEW SERIES. New York Times. 23 May 2017. 1985-06-30.
  5. News: O'CONNOR. JOHN. TV WEEKEND; 'ALIVE FROM OFF CENTER,' A SHOWCASE. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 1985-07-05.
  6. Web site: Sanborn. John. V+M. Facebook. 10 July 2017.
  7. Web site: Sanborn. John. The Temptation of St. Anthony. Youtube. 19 July 2017.
  8. News: KRIEGER. TODD. A Videogame to Tempt The Sundance Cineastes. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 1996-01-21.
  9. News: Caruso. Denise. TECHNOLOGY: DIGITAL COMMERCE; Innovation appears to be a scarce commodity. How will multimedia's new talent emerge from the interactive ooze?. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 1995-05-22.
  10. Web site: Rosenberg. Scott. Watching the Psychic Detectives with interactive director John Sanborn. San Francisco Chronicle. 17 September 1995. Chronicle Publications. 26 May 2017.
  11. Book: Hagebölling. Heide. Interactive Dramaturgies. 2004. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. 978-3-642-62231-1. 192. 19 July 2017.
  12. Book: Click and Roll: "Paul is Dead". 191–208. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. 10.1007/978-3-642-18663-9_17. X.media.publishing. 2004. Sanborn. John. 978-3-642-62231-1.
  13. Cohen. Alex. Paul Is Dead. Wired. 26 May 2017. April 1998.
  14. Krantz. Michael. IS DENNY REALLY DEAD?. Time. 27 May 2017. 1997-08-04.
  15. Book: 1979 Biennial Exhibition. 1979. The Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, New York. 978-0874270129.
  16. Book: 1981 Biennial Exhibition. The Whitney Museum of American Ar. New York, New York. 978-0874270327. 1981.
  17. Web site: Olympic Fragments. Electronic Arts Intermix. 19 July 2017.
  18. Web site: Musto. Michael. NIGHTLIFE LEGEND JIM FOURATT TALKS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT STONEWALL AND BIRTHING DANCETERIA. Paper. Paper. 26 May 2017. 2017-04-07.
  19. News: Glueck. Grace. A VIDEO ARTIST DISPUTES ORWELL'S '1984' VERSION OF TV. New York Times. 19 July 2017. January 1984.
  20. News: GLUECK. GRACE. A VIDEO ARTIST DISPUTES ORWELL'S '1984' VERSION OF TV. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. January 1984.
  21. Web site: PERFECT LIVES — BACKGROUND, CREDITS, SYNOPSIS. Lovely.com.
  22. News: TOMMASINI. ANTHONY. Tomorrow's Valhalla, Critics Weigh In on Standout Operas of Recent Decades. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 2014-01-03.
  23. News: ROCKWELL. JOHN. ROBERT ASHLEY'S VIDEO OPERA IN DEBUT AT KITCHEN. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 1983-11-18.
  24. Web site: Gann. Kyle. Reading Robert Ashley's Perfect Lives. Dalkey Archive Press. Dalkey. 19 July 2017.
  25. Web site: Gann. Kyle. Reading Robert Ashley's Perfect Lives. Dalkey Archive Press. 28 April 2017.
  26. News: O'Conner. John. TV Weekend; FLYING WOMEN IN WAR AND 'CINDERELLA'. New York Times. 19 July 2017. 1981-06-26.
  27. News: O'CONNOR. JOHN. TV Weekend; FLYING WOMEN IN WAR AND 'CINDERELLA'. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 1981-06-26.
  28. Web site: Sanborn. John. 2³ Statement about Art and Technology. Ars Electronica Archive. 26 May 2017.
  29. Web site: TV Review: 'Off Center' Comes Alive With Dance . Segal . Lewis . Los Angeles Times . August 25, 1986 . October 1, 2021.
  30. News: ANDERSON. JACK. A COLLABORATION OF DANCE AND VIDEO. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 1986-06-30.
  31. Sterritt. David. PBS leads viewers down unusual paths. The Christian Science Monitor. 26 May 2017. 1986-06-27.
  32. News: O'CONNOR. JOHN. TV Weekend; 'Alive From Off Center,' Comedy. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 1988-07-29.
  33. News: O'CONNOR. JOHN. TV VIEW; Keeping a Cutting Edge Keen Is Tough. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 1988-07-17.
  34. News: Pareles. Jon. 'SISTER SUZIE CINEMA,' A 'DOO-WOP OPERA'. New York Times. 19 July 2017. 1986-07-07.
  35. News: Pareles. Jon. 'SISTER SUZIE CINEMA,' A 'DOO-WOP OPERA'. New York Times. 29 April 2017. 1986-07-07.
  36. News: Holden. Stephen. 'Two Moon July,' a Special On Experimentalists. The New York Times. 26 May 2017. 1987-09-11.
  37. News: O"CONNER. JOHN. BARYSHNIKOV THE STAR OF 2 DANCE PROGRAMS. The New York Times. 27 May 2017. 1987-10-22.
  38. The Residents to Debut 'Duck Stab! Alive!' Performance for 'Night Flight' 40th-Anniversary Special . Blistein . Jon . May 10, 2021 . . October 1, 2021 . ...John Sanborn, who has regularly collaborated with the Residents since the Nineties.
  39. Web site: The Last Videotapes of Marcel Duchamp. Electronic Arts Intermix. Electronic Arts Intermix. 19 July 2017.
  40. Web site: Auteur Sanborn, John. Heure Exquise. Heure Exquise. 19 July 2017.
  41. Cohen. Alex. Paul is Dead. Wired. 29 April 2017. April 1998.
  42. Web site: Goodman. Tim. Frank' is one complete original. SFGATE. Chronicle Publishing. 29 April 2017. 1999-08-18.
  43. Krantz. Michael. IS DENNY REALLY DEAD?. Time. 26 May 2017. 1997-08-04.
  44. News: Streitfeld. David. A Web of Lies. The Washington Post.
  45. News: Caruso. Denise. E-mail's personal impact makes it a fertile medium for perpetrating hoaxes.. The New York Times. 1997-08-11.
  46. Web site: MIRAPAUL. MATTHEW. Monty Python's Eric Idle Not Laughing at Web Prank. The New York Times. 26 May 2017.
  47. Web site: LOREK. L.A.. Don't Fall For A Hoax Check It Out. Sun Sentinel. 26 May 2017.
  48. Web site: Richardson. Derk. Peace Pieces: Sarah Cahill commissions a sweeter music. San Francisco Chronicle. 22 January 2009. 26 May 2017.
  49. Web site: Dunn. Jeff. From Cage to Conga: John Sanborn's PICO. San Francisco Classical Voice. 29 April 2017.
  50. Web site: Fargier. Jean-Paul. JOURNAL DE VOYAGE AU CŒUR DU NUMÉRIQUE. TurbulencesVideo. 27 May 2017.
  51. Web site: Adolphson. Sue. Bay Area documentarians shine at Mill Valley Film Festival. San Francisco Chronicle. 19 September 2014.
  52. Web site: Grady. Pam. Mill Valley Film Festival: Bay Area documentarians on full view. San Francisco Chronicle. 17 September 2014. 27 May 2017.
  53. Web site: MMI. Electronic Arts Intermix. Electronic Arts Intermix. 19 July 2017.
  54. Web site: Harvey. Dennis. Review: 'MMI: A Chronicle of Time'. Variety. Variety Media, LLC. 19 July 2017. 2002-10-24.
  55. Web site: Harvey. Dennis. Review: 'MMI: A Chronicle of Time'. Variety. 28 April 2017. 2002-10-24.
  56. News: A Sweeter Music, Hertz Hall, Berkeley, California . . 19 July 2017 . subscription .
  57. News: Smith. Steve. Sounds of Peace, Sometimes Drowned Out by the Din of War. New York Times. 28 April 2017. 2009-03-16.
  58. Web site: Sanborn. John. V+M Official Trailer. Youtube. Youtube. 19 July 2017.
  59. Web site: Sanborn. John. V+M by John Sanborn @ Videoformes 2015. Youtube. Youtube. 19 July 2017.
  60. Web site: Fargier. Jean-Paul. L'annee Sanborn, bi-sexe-style a l'infini. Calmeo. 27 May 2017.
  61. Web site: V+M / John Sanborn (USA). VIDEOFORMES. VIDEOFORMES. 19 July 2017.
  62. Web site: Shifting Horizon: Myth, Music, Memory, The Media Art of John Sanborn," March 25 – July 10, 2016, Bangkok Art and Culture Center. Bangkok Art Review.
  63. Web site: EXHIBITION A TALE OF TWO CITIES, JOHN SANBORN'S DISTINCTIVE PATHS. Bandits-Mages. Bandits-Mages. 19 July 2017. October 2016.
  64. Web site: A TALE OF TWO CITIES, JOHN SANBORN. AAAR.FR. 27 May 2017.
  65. Web site: Fargier. Jean-Paul. A Tale of Two Cities. Calmeo. 27 May 2017.
  66. Web site: Linge Droit et Cercle. Youtube. Youtube. 19 July 2017.
  67. Web site: John Sanborn: le regard intérieur. Imagoblog lemonde France. 29 April 2017.
  68. Web site: Gattinoni. Christian. John Sanborn, un portrait choral mené par Stephen Sarrazin. la critique. 27 May 2017.
  69. Web site: FESTIVAL DE DANSE TRACES CONTEMPORAINES. Traces Contemporaines. Traces Contemporaines. 19 July 2017.
  70. Web site: The Arts for Television. MoMA. MoMA. 19 July 2017.
  71. Web site: Music Video: The Industry and Its Fringes. MoMA. MoMA. 19 July 2017.
  72. Web site: Video Art: A History. MoMA. MoMA. 19 July 2017.
  73. Web site: Performance Video. MoMA. MoMA. 19 July 2017.
  74. Web site: Wolmer. Bruce. Projects: Video XVI. The Museum of Modern Art. 27 May 2017.