Stephen Beck in Person withthe new Video Theremin From the late sixties through themid-seventies, three public television stations, WGBH, WNET and KQED, housed TVlabs conceived as access points for artists. Here, artists engagedbroadcast-quality tools in their efforts to expand the possibilities of the videomedium. Each lab had its own aims, character, and coterie of participants. In1969 WGBH commissioned six visual artists-among them Allan Kaprow, Nam June Paik,and Aldo Tambellini-to create original works for broadcast television. Thehistoric result, The Medium Is the Medium (27:50 mins), introduced a broad TVaudience to hitherto unexamined aspects of the medium, such as image processing,dance video, and interactivity. WNET's TV Lab produced artist profiles as a wayof contextualizing often elusive works. Part of the VTR series, Video AgainstVideo (1975, 28:50 mins) showcases Douglas Davis whose concerns abouttelevision's "fourth wall" typified first-generation video artists.KQED's National Center for Experiments in Television was the most radical of thelabs, stressing pure experimentation over the finished work. Bay Area artistStephen Beck was a primary artist-in-residence at the NCET where he perfected hisDirect Video Synthesizer. Tonight, Beck will talk about his residency and screenearly works, including Illuminated Music (1972-73, 13:48 mins), and VideoWeavings (1976, 9:18 mins), and will demonstrate a new device, the VideoTheremin.-Steve Seid