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Description
Baker/Rapoport/Wick was a collective of three performance artists--Mary Winder Baker, Debra Rapoport and Susan Wick. They came together to create remarkable textile-oriented performances and installations that inspired and expanded the definition of creativity in San Francisco. The location of this video was a window at Macy’s in Union Square. The three female performance artists promoted the store’s new beauty shop and line of kitchen appliances. Eyecatching hairdos and culinary gizmos were integral to the piece. The crowd gathered outside watched this mixture of advertising and art. The performers wore featureless masks and commented on what it meant to be female in contemporary society. Baker, Rapoport, and Wick staged events throughout California and New York in private homes, galleries, and store front windows. First Generation (1974 -1980) was a partnership between Dede Tisone Bartels, Betty Estersohn and Joan Valdes, who were young teachers and artists in the San Francisco Bay Area of the 1960s and 70s. It was a vibrant and creative art community that was pushing the boundaries and the definition of art. The common denominator among the three was an interest in the possibilities of the new technology of video to document the work of people who created California and Bay Area history. It wasn’t easy. The equipment was heavy and the black and white reel to reel tape had to be tediously edited by hand. Joan was a public school teacher, Betty was a dancer and painter, Dede was an art instructor at De Anza College. Together named First Generation they videotaped artists working in the Bay Area and people of historical interest for the California History Center at De Anza College and the Sempervirons Association. The work was supported through institutional grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, C.E.T.A, The Sempervirons Association, and the Youth Project and participated in competitions at the DeYoung Museum, La Mamelle, Women’s Video Competition at San Francisco State University, San Mateo County Fair, The Euphrat Gallery, Mobius Video, Channel 25, the Donnell Library, and SFMOMA.
Type
moving image
Format
Sound Black and White 1/2 inch videotape
Form/Genre
Documentary films Personal/independent works
Extent
1 Tape of 1
Identifier
PM0040646 cbpf_000115
Language
English
Subject
Performance art
Place
San Francisco (Calif.)
Provenance
University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
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