Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman

Artist working at the intersection of Art, Science, Culture and Emerging Technologies

My artworks use all original material that I create, record, capture on location, photograph, draw, animate.

(except for occasional credited NASA images/sounds shot from Space, I do not appropriate imagery or video)

LIST: Video/Media Works
Filmography/Videography/Other

LIST: Books/Publications
References/Distribution/Writings/Other

Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman
https://www.joanngillerman.com
https://art-pod.org
https://vipervertex.com

LIST: Video/Media Works
Filmography/Videography/Other

LIST: Books/Publications
References/Distribution/Writings/Other

1970's
1980's
1990's
2000's
2010's
2020's

POTENTIAL PHOTOS

TEACHING
Social Practice, Outreach
Published Writings by J. Gillerman

ART-POD nonprofit
Art-Pod website

LAVA | ECLIPSES

An accurate and complete Biographical Piece - JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor (Art Historian) -
was written for "Women of Vision" Journal and Works Broadcasts on PBS/KCSM hosted by Jan Yanehiro
is a good overview of JoAnn Gillerman and her art works in the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's
Excerpts are Referenced Below with links to complete article

Gillerman using Light Wand (neon) to control and move graphic elements on the video display screen (for "Kundalini & Baseball" live performance, 1990)

Orchid Series Computer Graphics - Gillerman © 1985
Published: CRASH book

Whispers in a Plane of Light - Gillerman in Live Performance with her Sandin Video Image Processor, Digicon 83, Vancouver, B.C.

Biographies and writings about JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman
Overview of the 1970's (below)

1970's

OVERVIEW: What to cover: Gillerman's summary of the 1970's

BASICS to Cover:

Even before graduating from Duke University/Durham/NC, (BA/1972) in Medical/Botanical Illustrating, my botanical illustrations had been published in the Missouri Botanical Gardens Journals, St Louis, MO - establishing my very early interests and connections of art and science. I received MFA/1975 from the Chicago Art Institute in Painting/Drawing (Printmaking/Sculpture) and VIDEO ART (a then new medium – (Videography Magazine). In Chicago, under mentorship of Phil Morton and Dan Sandin, I was introduced to Live (Real-time) Video Art, Multi-Channel Video Installation, Video Synthesis and Computer Graphics. I was also introduced to video artists Woody and Steina Vasulka, Bill and Louise Etra (now Louise Ledeen), and Tom DeFanti. During my time in Chicago, I also met Gene Youngblood (Expanded Cinema), Vibeke Sorenson, Philip Glass, Nam June Paik, Chris Burden, Maryanne Amacher, and others. Interested in Audience Interaction, I started creating Interactive (sensor-controlled) multi-channel video Installations (installed in public (One Illinois Center, Chicago Museum of Art, others) and video processing, synthesis and computer graphics – live and recorded on videotape. In 1975 (Chicago), I started building from scratch, self-taught electronics - a patch-programmable analog Sandin Video Image Processor/Synthesizer (from schematics designed by Dan Sandin), that I completed after relocating to the Bay Area, California, to provide live Image Processing video/visuals in a series of electronic music performances (in/around the Bay Area/SF) with the Real* Electric Symphony, establishing integral abstracted live connections of video and music. Very early interest and works integrating Live Real-Time Video (analog) with Computer Graphics (digital) – creating non-narrative, abstract, non-linear works manipulating the video signal. A frequent collaborator, *James Gillerman my brother, composed original music for my video works.

I formed "Viper Optics" for collaborative works and PUBLIC large-scale projections of live processing events - including
Large-screen projections and Live Video Processing for (COYOTE founder) Margo St. James' Hookers Balls (1977-1978). (Civic Center-Cow Palace,/SF/CA)
I started teaching at California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA. in 1976.
Fafnir, my 10' long Boa Constrictor, appeared in many of my works of this time - live installations and video
I was fortunate to be one of the original artists to live/work in Peter Voulkos' artists' warehouse compound –a community of active artists including Marylin Levine, Tom Holland, Bella Feldman, Clay Jensen and others.

* Important Note: When I started creating video art, video synthesis, video installation, computer graphics and live performance in the early-mid '70s - these media art forms were new, not well defined, and not the acceptable art world mediums of today. Video Artists needed to be creative, finding alternative spaces, venues, and places to get their works shown. Broadcast TV was a challenge (technically, politically and otherwise restricted), but also a way to reach a large audience. My preference was more decentralized venues. Few galleries had the means or media arts equipment to accommodate/show electronic works at that time. So low/high-tech electronic works were often exhibited, screened and performed at well-attended large related conferences, specialized symposia, public events, and occasionally museums who had the means to provide necessary equipment, and a hand full of specialized video art galleries (i.e. Video Free America/SF/CA, The Kitchen/NY). Broadcast/PBS, Cablecasts were possible within boundaries through specialized art programs.

Referenced:

* Videography/NY - "San Francisco: Life among the Independents" (below)

* Real Electric Symphony: composers/musicians/performers: Ron Pellegrino, James Gillerman, Frankie Mann and others

* James GIllerman, Composer/Musician, Graduate from Center of Contemporary Music/CCM, Mills College, Oakland, CA - and member of The Real* Electric Symphony

Biographies and Writings ABOUT JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman
Overview of the '70's

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 70's - are available in "Reference Materials -70's" (below )

Click picture and/or underlined article name to link to page with more information and complete article

Bullet Points (below writing) signify important Key Points mentioned in article

JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor

Women of Vision Journal, Summer 1997 Season

Complete Article: JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor

(excerpts below)

JoAnn Gillerman is a Berkeley-based electronic media artist and educator who has taught at the California College of Arts and Crafts since 1976. Her artwork is impressively broad in range, including video production, interactive installation, interactive CD Rom, internet on-line design and performance art. Like most artist of her generation, Gillerman's early art training was in the fine arts, principally painting and printmaking. Yet, by the time she received her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1975, she had already begun to experiment in the new media of video and performance. Although they were created before artists had access to personal sized computers and appropriate software, the early works were interactive in nature. Gillerman has always been and remains interested in stimulating audience participation.

Gillerman started building a Sandin Image Processor [video synthesizer] in 1976 before migrating to California. The Sandin, which she used to manipulate video signals in many subsequent live performances, was completed in 1977. Music and sound have always been important components in her art. Gillerman's first series of performances, dating between 1976-78, were accompanied by audio created by the Real* Electronic Symphony. In 1978 Gillerman was selected to broadcast excerpts of her work on KRON-TV the San Francisco NBC affiliate. In that same year, Video Free America featured her multi-channel installation "Predominantly Fafnir", in a one woman show. ...

Viewed broadly, Gillerman's art of the 1970's was primarily concerned with an exploration of the relationship of visual imagery and music.

• Complete Article: JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor, Women of Vision Journal, Summer 1997 Season, Hosted by TV journalist Jan Yanehiro, (Women of Vision," a six-week series showcasing films and videos by the Bay Area's best female filmmakers. includes documentaries, features, animated short films and videos, with discussions with their creators. Works Broadcast and PBS)

OVERVIEW of the '70's - Important points in Biographical Piece by Celeste Connor (above)

BUILDS SANDIN VIDEO IMAGE PROCESSOR/SYNTHESIZER | EARLY VIDEO SYNTHESIS: "Gillerman started building a Sandin Image Processor [video synthesizer/self-taught electronics] in 1976 before migrating to California. The Sandin, which she used to manipulate video signals in many subsequent live performances, was completed in 1977."
EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW MEDIA AND PERFORMANCE "... by the time she received her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1975, she had already begun to experiment in the new media of video and performance. "
EARLY INTERACTIVE COMPUTER ARTS: "Although they were created before artists had access to personal sized computers and appropriate software, the early works were interactive in nature. Gillerman has always been and remains interested in stimulating audience participation."
REAL* ELECTRIC SYMPHONY AND EARLY PERFORMANCES EXPERIMENTING WITH LIVE VISUALS AND MUSIC/SOUND RELATIONSHIPS: "Relationships of Visuals, Music and Sound are important components in her art. Gillerman's first series of performances, dating between 1976-78, were accompanied by audio created by the Real* Electronic Symphony."
EARLY BROADCASTS OF VIDEO ART: "In 1978 broadcasts her works on KRON-TV the San Francisco NBC affiliate."
MULTIMEDIA MULTI-CHANNEL INSTALLATION AND ONE WOMAN SHOW, VIDEO FREE AMERICA/S.F./CA: "1978 - Video Free America featured her multi-channel installation "Predominantly Fafnir" in a one woman show.

Video Free America Presents

Book by Joanne Kelly

(complete entry below)

excerpts

"Fafnir, her [very large] pet Boa Constrictor, was often featured in Live Performance and Video of that period"

Reference: Video Free America Presents" book by Joanne Kelly (below)

"Created [large-scale] LIVE Video Environments and Live Video Synthesis at Hooker's Balls 1977-1978"

(Hooker's Balls: 1977/Civic Center/SF, 1978/Cow Palace/SF)

Reference: Video Free America Presents" book by Joanne Kelly (below)

SIGNIFICANT ART WORKS (1970's)
Video, Muli-Channel, Multi-media Installation, Video Synthesis, Live Video/Music Performance
(referred to in Reference Material)

• First West Coast Computer Faire, San Francisco Civic Center (for Audio following link below)

• "Independent Video in San Francisco: A Grand Tour" by Mia Amato, Videography, Volume 5, Number 2 - February 1980

Excerpts © 1979 Video
• "Independent Video in San Francisco: A Grand Tour" by Mia Amato, Videography, Volume 5, Number 2 - February 1980 (and Videography, May 1980)

• Collection: Long Beach Museum of Art, LA/CA)

Live (real-time) Improvisational Performances with the Real* Electric Symphony, 1976

• Live Video Synthesis/Music Performances: Cats Paw Palace/Berkeley/CA, SF/CA; Mabuhay Gardens/SF, Blue Dolphin/SF and others

• Referenced: "JoAnn Gillerman "by Celeste Connor, Women of Vision (above)

Live Video Synthesis - Projected on Large Display Screens, The Hooker's Balls (1977/Civic Center/SF/CA, 1978/Cow Palace/SF/CA)

[Also Trocadero Transfer, The Glass House, and many others in SF]

• Referenced: Video Free America Presents" by Joanne Kelly (book)

• Video Free America/SF/CA, One Woman Show, Performance/Muli-Channel, Multimedia Installation/performance with Fafnir, Gillerman's Boa Constrictor

• Referenced: "Video Free America Presents" by Joanne Kelly (book)

• Referenced: "JoAnn Gillerman" by Celeste Connor , Women of Vision (above)

Reference Materials Below (70's)

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 70's -
are available in "Reference Materials -70's" (below ) - click picture or article name to link to page with more information and complete article

BOOK:

https://archive.org/details/vasulka11381

References to important aspects of Gillerman's work in the '70's in Video Free America Presents,book by Joanne Kelly:

Pet Boa Constrictor, Fafnir, frequent subject of video and live performances of the '70's - and inspired name Viper Optics.
Works performed & installations/environments at Cats Paw Palace, Lawrence Hall of Science, SF Hooker's Balls (SF Civic Cetner and Cow Palace)
Video Synthesis and Computer Graphics - technical skills developed during MFA and at Chicago Art Insititue and U. of IL [where Dan Sandin taught}
Large-scale Interactive works to draw in Audience Interaction
Teaching at California College of Arts and Crafts
Equipment of her studio (Viper Optics)

Videography, Volume 5, Number 2, February 1980, Publisher: United Business Publications, Inc., a subsidiary of Media Horizons, New York, NY

"San Francisco: Life among the Independents"

I do not believe broadcast to be a 'natural' medium for video art. I do not support broadcast as a political institution. I was quite vocal at the meeting in suggesting that I personally was more interested in videodisc than broadcast. Jo Ann Gillerman (Videography, May 1980)

WEIRD OTHER 1970's

THE FIRST WEST COAST COMPUTER FAIRE, San Francisco, CA. (archived) - 1977

Archived: AUDIO PRESENTATION (30 min) of JoAnn Gillerman

Presents Art Works at the First West Coast Computer Faire, San Francisco, CA

Presenter/Panelist: "Video Synthesis & Performance with an Analog Computer" by JoAnn Gillerman

Archived Reference: https://archive.org/details/camvchm_000019 (INTERNET ARCHIVE: complete archived audio - Gillerman introduced end section 3/continues entire section 4)

Video Synthesis Works shown/described on Audio:

Homage to the Exploration of Venus

Yorica

AUDIO IS IN COLLECTIONS:

Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102725950 (catalog references only)
National Museum of American History, Archives Center:
https://edan.si.edu/slideshow/viewer/?eadrefid=NMAH.AC.1118_ref14

The West Coast Computer Faire was an annual computer industry conference and exposition. The first fair was held in 1977 and was organized by Jim Warren and Bob Relling. At the time, it was the biggest computer show in the world, intended to popularize the personal computer in the home. This first fair took place on April 16-17, 1977, in San Francisco Civic Auditorium and Brooks Hall ... [other presenters: " ... Apple II, presented by then 21-year-old Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, ... Tom DeFanti, Dan Sandin and Larry Leske, "Roaming around in Abstract 3-D spaces", Jo Ann Gillerman, "Video Synthesis & Performance with an Analog Computer" Stephen Beck, "Video Synthesis: Expanding Electronic Vision" Larry Forman chair a panel titled "Computer-driven video systems"]

https://archive.org/details/camvchm_000019 (complete archived text and audio)

Computer History Museum, 1401 N Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94043
First West Coast Computer Faire Proceedings
in collection of Computer History Museum
https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102725950

FIRST WEST COAST COMPUTER FAIRE 1977
AUDIO Presentation/Paper
Jo Ann Gillerman
"Video Synthesis & Performance with an Analog Computer"

Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman
https://www.joanngillerman.com
https://art-pod.org
https://vipervertex.com

1970's
1980's
1990's
2000's
2010's
2020's

An accurate and complete Biographical Piece - JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor (Art Historian) -
was written for "Women of Vision" Journal and Works Broadcasts on PBS/KCSM hosted by Jan Yanehiro
is a good overview of JoAnn Gillerman and her art works in the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's
Excerpts are Referenced Below with links to complete article

1980's

ORCHID computer Graphics Video,
Gillerman © 1985-1986

ORCHID
PLAY VIDEO (3 minutes)
Computer Graphics: Jo Ann GIllerman
Music/Sound: James Gillerman

Gillerman, WHISPERS IN A PLANE OF LIGHT
Live Performance, Digicon 1983, Vancouver, B.C.

WHIPSPERS IN A PLANE OF LIGHT
PLAY VIDEO (10 minutes)
VIdeo/Computer Graphics: Jo Ann GIllerman
Sound: James Gillerman

OVERVIEW: What to cover: Gillerman's summary of the '80's

Explorations of New Media and the direct integral relationships of image and sound dominated the 80's along with themes of sensuality and eroticism. A seminal piece (for me) was Whispers in a Plane of Light, a Live/Real-Time Performance (and video) that premiered live at Digicon 83, Vancouver, B.C. and Cadre 84. This piece brought together many important aspects of my work. Rejecting the notion that (abstract) computer graphics at that time were only eye-candy, I was determined to bring humanistic sensuality and abstractly erotic elements in technologically sophisticated Live Performance, Video Synthesis and Computer Graphics works. (Orchid, Orchid Live Performance,) A strong painterly visual aesthetic (grounded in my solid background of the Fine Arts, Painting/Drawing/Sculpture/Printmaking) brought this sensibility and attention to create electronically generated complex imagery mixing multiple elements seamlessly in Real-Time environments and recorded analog video works. (I used my (analog) Image Process/IP as an elaborate real-time switcher to sophisticatedly mix multiple digital/computer graphics and several live video camera sources into morphing layered montage.) I also started Incorporating political and social issues of the times into my works (Clone Baby, Five Responses to the Political Condition 1980, Electric Dream). I frequently worked in collaboration during the '80's – often with musicians. I was invited to - Simon Fraser U/Emily Carr College of Art, Vancouver/BC and Metro Television/Sydney/Australia - to create hybrid Image processing works and perform live video/synthesis (with my IP) in combination with varied exotic high-end computer graphics Systems. "In 1980, David Ross curated a one woman show of her works at the Pacific Film Archive, University Art Museum in Berkeley. "During this period her pioneering work" was also broadcast in Canada and Australia." and published/distributed in US and Japan. (Referenced quote from Celeste Connor's Bio piece below - and other references below). I started showing frequently in * * SIGGRAPH Art Shows (video synthesis/computer graphics/interactive installation/performance) and the Electronic Theater Film Shows (Video and a Live Video/Music Performance "Orchid: Live Performance, Dallas Convention Center, 1986). I created multi-channel slide installations and performances with large projections of processed/synthesized images and computer graphics.

I received a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship in 1980.

Explorations of New Media and the direct integral relationships of image and sound
Live video synthesis and image processing in live real-time environments
themes of sensuality and eroticism (Orchid-computer graphics/video, Whispers in a Plane of Light -Live Performance/video, Electric Dream-Video)
Whispers in a Plane of Light, Live/Real-Time Performance (& video) that premiered live at Digicon 83, Vancouver, B.C. and Cadre 84.
started Incorporating political and social issues of the times into my works (Clone Baby, Five Responses to the Political Condition 1980, Electric Dream).
ORCHID (computer graphics, digital images/print, video)
One woman show Pacific Film Archive, University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA, David Ross curated
National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship in 1980.
Live Video/Music Performance "Orchid: Live Performance, Dallas Convention Center, 1986). I created multi-channel slide installations and performances with large projections of processed/synthesized images and computer graphics.
"Pioneering work" broadcast in Canada and Australia (reference: Celeste Connor)
Collaborations, often with musicians
Siggraph: Art Shows, Installations, Electronic Theater, Live Performance
Fiber Form and other musicvideos exhibited/traveling: SFMOMA and WHITNEY MUSEUM of AMERICAN ART, "New Correlations"

* Siggraph/ACM is a premier International Computer Graphics Conference for Technology and Art. Based in US and Japan, it is comprised of an Art Show for Computer Arts, Computer Graphics, Installations and Environments, The Electronic Theater of Computer Graphics Films and Live Performance, Exhibitions of Emerging Computer and Graphics systems, Related Workshops and Presentations, Exhibition Hall. It is well funded and often provides high-tech multimedia equipment and displays to artists for installations/environments. The Siggraph VIdeo Reviews and Archives Publishes and Internationally Distributes invited computer graphics/computer art works on video.

SIGNIFICANT ART WORKS (1980's)
Live/Real-Time Video-Music Performance, Video Art, Computer Graphics/Video, Live/Real-Time Computer Graphics Performance/Video,

VideoMusic, Muli-Channel/MultiMedia Installation

(Reference Materials below)

Whispers in a Plane of Light - Live Performance/Video 1983-1984 Live/Video/Computer Graphics: JoAnn Gillerman, Live/Music: Jean Piché

Performed LIVE in Real-time:

- Digicon83, 1983/Vancouver/BC/Canada (Credits: Video, IP and Computer Graphics/JoAnn Gillerman, Music/Jean Piché, Camera/Jim Whiteaker)

- CADRE84, 1984/Santa Clara/CA, Oakland/CA (Credits: Video and Computer Graphics/JoAnn Gillerman, Music/Jean Piché, Camera/Jim Whiteaker, Model/Gretchen Bright)

INFO PAGE:

PLAY VIDEO:

References: (details/articles below)

• "Digicon 83: Context for Computer Art" by Jerry Barenholtz, Interdisciplinary Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC

• "Digicon 83. by Paul D. Lehrman", Creative Computing, Vol. 10, No. 4 / April 1984 / P. 172, "Gillerman Takes it Off" (Excerpt and complete article below)

• "JoAnn GIllerman by Celeste Connor" , Women of Vision (above)

• Oakland Museum of the Arts, Oakland Museum of California, May/June 1990, Volume 13, number 6 - Video Visions, Electronic Dreams by Liz Kotz

• SIGGRAPH Electroinc Theater 84, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1984

( "A live video/music collaboration, this performance has been performed at DIGICON ’83 in Vancouver, British Columbia;

CADRE ’84 in Santa Clara, California; and, in Oakland, California in 1984. “It is an exciting, very sensual performance”... Creative Computing, April 1984 issue")

Hardware: Sandin image processor for analog switching and mixing, Fairlight sound synthesizer, Aurora Videographics System for digital computer graphics

Technical notes: This is the tape resulting from a live, collaborative video/music performance. The Fairlight provided several control voltages that were directly patched

to the several video input images being mixed/ keyed on the analog video processor.") https://history.siggraph.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SIGGRAPH-1984-Electronic-Theater.pdf -p13

• Video Distribution: SIGGRAPH/ACM VIDEO REVIEW

INFO PAGE:

PLAY VIDEO:

References: (details/articles below)

• Oakland Museum of the Arts, Oakland Museum of California, May/June 1990, Volume 13, number 6 - Video Visions, Electronic Dreams by Liz Kotz

• Computer Graphics, Feature Magazine Article & Cover, About the Cover: "Dancing Orchids and Other Art" by Margaret Neal,

IEEE Computer Graphics, Year: 1986, Volume: 6, Issue: 12, Pages: 4-7

• The S.F. Bay Guardian: After Dark, Sept 18, 1985, Vol 19, No 48 - Full Page COVER: caption: "Jo Ann Gillerman's 'Orchid' is among the video-art tapes being presented by the Mill Valley VIdeofest"

• Artweek 1985, Oct, Vol 16, Number 34, The Mill Valley Festival by Christine Tamblyn, REVIEW: " ... Fortunately, JoAnn GIllerman's Orchid, which shows baroquely

elegant digitized images of orchids dissolving and reforming indicated that computer graphics systems can be used to produce viable alternatives to "video wallpaper"

• WIFV -Made for TV Festival, New England Women In Fiim and Video 1985, Juried/Curated ... screenings of popular and esoteric works ... celebrating the contributions of

women to broadcast and non-broadcast television.

Orchid: Live Performance, 1986 - Live/Vdeo: JoAnn Gillerman, Live/Music: Bill Buxton - Siggraph Electronic Theater/Dallas Convention Center

References: (details/articles below)

• IEEE/ Computer Graphics: About the Cover: Dancing Orchids and Other Art" by Margaret Neal

"The show is really a new art form. The stage is set with three screens: one center stage measures 15' x 20' and two on the sides of the stage measuring 20' x 20' each.

Slides dissolve on the two side screens while a live performer takes center stage under the center screen. This is all done to live music, and Gillerman coordinates the

entire thing in real-time."

• VID Magazine: "First video revolution. Now the video revelation." Vol. 2, Number 1, 1987, "The Amiga, The Videophile's Dream" by David Beasly

• Robo City News, 1987, Amiga Does SIGGRAPH '86 by Wendy Peterson:

"In the midst of an annual event designed to pay homage to computer graphics generated on big, sophisticated, expensive (try $30K and up) mainframes, there was

video artist JoAnn Gillerman with her Amiga, Genloc, LIVE! Frame-Grabber, Deluxe Video, camera, dancer, neon lighting, three 20 foot projection screens."

References: (details/articles below)

• Theatrical Release | U.C. Theater, Berkeley, CA, 1986

• AWARD: Best Experimental Video, Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival/Los Angeles/CA, 1986

• Paramount (home video), Published/Distribution: Best of the Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival, VHS/DVD 1986

• Oakland Museum of the Arts, Oakland Museum of California, May/June 1990, Volume 13, number 6 - Video Visions, Electronic Dreams by Liz Kotz

References: (details/articles below)

• Creature Features/KTVU Channel 2, with John Stanley, Live (TV) Interview with JoAnn Gillerman and James Gillerman; Siggraph/U.S./Japan, Broadcast/PBS, Distribution)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ENzLrmcPk (Clone Baby starts at: ~2:30 minutes - 6:15 minutes)

• The Enterprise, Oakland, 1st Year, No. 87, Sunday, May 29, 1983, Art of the future by David Weinstein (Staff Writer)

• Distribution and Archive: Siggraph Video Reviews, US and Japan Archive

• Published/Distribution: Mondo/ TX (2015-2020)

INFO PAGE:

PLAY VIDEO:

References: (details/articles below)

• AWARD: Best Experimental Video, Taboo, 1985, Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival/Los Angeles/CA,

• The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Video-Music: New Correlations (screenings/traveling) 1982

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art/SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA

References: (details/articles below)

• Women's Video Art Showcase, review by Julie Nolan- Aug/Sept 1985 Northern California Women in Film & Video

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art/SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA

References: (details/articles below)
• The Whitney Museum of American Art/NY/NY, Video-Music: New Correlations (screenings/traveling) 1982

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, SF, CA

• SIIGGRAPH Video Reviews: history/artwork/archived/distribution

https://digitalartarchive.siggraph.org/artwork/jo-ann-gillerman-five-responses-to-the-political-condition-now/

https://history.siggraph.org/artwork/jo-ann-gillerman-five-responses-to-the-political-condition-now/

• SIGGRAPH Video Reviews - distribution

References: (details/articles below)

• The Whitney Museum of American Art/NY/NY, Video-Music: New Correlations (screenings/traveling) 1982

• San Fancisco Museum of Modern Art, SF/CA - Video-Music: New Correlations (traveling) 1982

References: (details/articles below)

• The Whitney Museum of American Art/NY/NY, Video-Music: New Correlations (screenings/traveling) 1982

(A Collection of EIGHT VideoMusic pieces: Pentagon, Silver Field Song, Lady E, Clone Baby, Electric Dream, Tech Trilogy: Decentralization, Tech Central, Techtopia)

References: (details/articles above/below)

• Creature Features with John Stanley, "Gang of Tomorrow" - KTVU/Channel 2, Live Interview on TV with Jo Ann Gillerman and James Gillerman, VIper Optics

• Clone Baby: KTVU/Channel 2, Broadcast with interview of Viper Optics on Creature Features, SIggraph Video Review, Japan/U.S.

• Lady E: New Correlations, 1982, Whitney Museum of American and SFMOMA (Lady E)

• Electric Dream - Award/distribution Hollywood Erotic Film/VIdeo Festival, LA, CA, '85-'86, Theatrical Release/UC Theater, Berkeley, CA, Distribution: Paramoiunt Home Video

• Exclusive International Distribution, FATW/NY 1990-1993

• All Markets Distribution, Mondo/Bleeding Skull/ TX 2015-2019

• All Markets, SRS/NY 2020-current

• IEEE/ Computer Graphics: About the Cover: Dancing Orchids and Other Art" by Margaret Neal

"Gillerman's first project for the future is to take this multi-image, live show and computer graphic animated video show around the world. But there is more going on in her busy

head. She is starting work on a feature-length horror movie" ...

Biographies and Writings ABOUT JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman
Overview of the 1980's

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 80's -
are available in "Reference Materials -80's" (below ) - click picture/article name to link to page with more information and complete article

Bullet Points (below writing) signify important Key Points

JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor

Women of Vision Journal, Summer 1997 Season

Complete Article: JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor

(excerpts below)

In 1980, David Ross curated a one woman show of her [Gillerman's] work at the Pacific Film Archive at the University Art Museum in Berkeley. During this period her pioneering work was also broadcast in Canada and Australia.

Viewed broadly, Gillerman's art of the 1970's was primarily concerned with an exploration of the relationship of visual imagery and music. During this decade Gillerman, often in collaboration with others, explored the limits of sound controlling video and video controlling sound. It is important to consider that all this was undertaken without the aid of sophisticated MIDI system used today. Further, these experiments were conducted in real time. It is the element of time that Gillerman considers the most unique and beautiful property of the medium. Works of the 70's were also concerned with expanding the sensory perceptions of the audience. As a body, they share a sensuousness suited to their predominately erotic themes. The culmination of her experiments of this period is Whispers in a Plane of Light as work performed live with Jean Piché that was featured at both Digicon 1983 and CADRE 1984, two influential computer industry conferences.

Gillerman's signature themes of erotic and sensual elements are important threads that connect Gillerman's work over time. They are carried into the eighties when Gillerman's work attention was to experimentation on the Aurora Video Graphics system, her preferred "high-end" (i.e. very costly) paint system of that decade. At this time she created works like Orchid a highly erotic depiction of the flower that is composed of the body of a fully-frontal male nude in a seductive Georgia O'Keefe like palette. Gillerman commuted to San Francisco at 4am to create on the Aurora and traveled to Canada to use a Key Frame animation system until a small personal computer, the Amiga, became available to artists in 1986. Since 1979, Gillerman has exhibited frequently at the premiere computer graphics convention, Siggraph, where the relationship of art and technology has been explored with landmark success.

OVERVIEW of the '80's - Important points in Biographical Piece by Celeste Connor (above)

WHISPERS IN A PLANE OF LIGHT LIVE VIDEO/MUSIC PERFORMANCE - IMPORTANT WORK: ... WAS THE culmination of experiments with direct integral relationships of sound directly controlling visuals and visuals directly controlling sound, all in rea-time (10 min) performance Live VideoMusic Performance with a theme of sensuality -Whispers in a Plane of Light was a work performed live - JoAnn Gillerman/Video and Jean Piché/Music - was featured at Digicon 1983 and CADRE 1984, two influential computer art conference events.
COLLABORATION: Often worked in collaboration with others, exploring the limits of sound controlling video and video controlling sound.
EXPERIMENTS CREATED VERSION OF MIDI-like SYSTEM PRE-MIDI: Performed on her [analog, patch-programable] Sandin Image Processor in real-time - and without the aid of sophisticated MIDI systems used today.
GILLERMAN PERSONAL VIDEO/PERFORMANCE PHILOSOPHY: "Real-time a unique and beautiful property of the video medium"
SENSUAL/EROTIC NATURE OF WORKS: Her works (in '70's and '80's) often share a sensuousness/erotic nature
ONE WOMAN SHOW AT PFA/BERKELEY MUSEUM: "In 1980, David Ross curated a one woman show of her work at the Pacific Film Archive at the University Art Museum in Berkeley.
PIONEERING WORK: "During this period her pioneering work was also broadcast in Canada and Australia.

[

Digicon 83. by Paul D. Lehrman

"Jody Gillerman Takes It Off"

CREATIVE COMPUTING
VOL. 10, NO. 4 / APRIL 1984 / PAGE 172

Complete Article: https://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n4/164_Digicon_83.php

Whispers in a Plane of Light Live Performance, Digicon 83, Vancouver, Canada

A Live Performance: Jo Ann Gillerman (video) and Jean Piché (music)

(Excerpts below)

"California video artist Jody Gillerman is walking around dressed in black leather and a huge red LED bracelet, and Piche shoos away a flock of photographers.

...

Gillerman sits down on a stool and takes off her jacket, revealing a black leotard, Piché starts playing string-like drones, punctuated by tiny explosions. A tape of computer graphics can be seen on a small video monitor and on a projection screen, and slowly the image on the larger screen starts to change. Cameraman Jim Whiteaker is tightly focusing on Gillerman's neck, and the image of her caressing her bare skin starts to mix with the taped graphics. The music builds, and Piché begins to coo and sigh into a microphone. The camera angle of Gillerman is so tight that unless you can see her in the corner, it is hard to determine exactly what she is doing. It is an exciting, very sensual performance, and the audience applauds enthusiastically when it is over." ...

"Digi-Success: Gillerman/Piché"

Digicon 83: Context for Computer Art by Jerry Barenholtz

Interdisciplinary Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, B.C.,Canada

Complete Article

(Excerpts below)

... {is a} ten-minute live performance by Jean Piché on a Fairlight Computer Music Instrument, and Jody Gillerman on a Sandin IP (Video Image Processor) ...

...

Gillerman was to be controlling other aspects of the video. Piché was to modify the sounds and Gillerman was to modify other [live in real time] controls in response to the synthesized images appearing on the monitor. ...

...

Gillerman was visible to the audience, and it was evident that she was merely rubbing her shoulder with one hand and twiddling knobs on the IP with the other. Likewise, one could see that Piché was just chanting into a microphone and playing keyboards, rather than the "oohing" and "aahing" which appeared on the video monitor. ...

...

The piece was very much a study in sensuality and erotic fantasy. In order to understand what it did and how it worked, it must be understood that the shared control of images was real and fully utilized, rather than just a theoretical possibility buried somewhere in six quintillion wires. The pitch and loudness of Piché's chanting directly controlled the mix percentage between the camera pointed at him and the rest of the visual elements [with real-time manual overrides and controls by Gillerman]. Thus Piché had direct control over not only the content of the image of himself (position and facial expression), but also over the way it appeared in the overall image. GIllerman too had this type of context/content control: In addition to being herself always on camera, the entire image was being assembled in the IP, which she was running via its front panel controls. [* all live and in real time]

...

Because of this control, the performance per se was fully theatrical: The performers appeared in roles, rather than merely as themselves running their respective machines. The roles and the general shape of the script had been agreed upon by the performers long before the performance. The actual elaboration, with respect to the "drama", the music and video, were worked up in a long series of rehearsals leading up to the performance. (The interpretation of the meaning of the performance is due to the present author, and may come as a surprise to the performers.)

...

The overall piece was unquestionably erotic. ... In addition to the twin technical triumphs of getting so many machines working together and controlling such a complex feedback loop without collapse or runaway, Gillerman and Piché presented the audience with a fine, subtle, sensual fantasy, which danced smoothly and confidently around the space bounded in one dimension by the personal and mythical, and in another dimension by the male and female.

...

Without a doubt, the Gillerman/Piché collaboration was the best work at DIGICON 83, and one can only hope that future DIGICONs or other contexts will bring these two and their respective machines together again.

OVERVIEW of '80's - Important points in Biographical Pieces: "Digicon 83" by Paul D. Lehrman and Digi-Success by Jerry Barenholtz

WHISPERS IN A PLANE OF LIGHT - LIVE VIDEO/MUSIC PERFORMANCE AT DIGICON 83, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1983, is a ten-minute live performance by Jean Piché on a Fairlight Computer Music Instrument, and Jody Gillerman on a Sandin IP (Video Image Processor)
WHISPERS is HIGHLY TECHNOLOGICAL AND AT THE SAME TIME EROTIC/SENSUAL - "The overall piece was unquestionably erotic" (Barenholtz)
VERY DIRECT RELATIONSHIP OF SOUND CONTROLLING VIDEO AND VIDEO CONTROLLING SOUND created a sort of feedback loop in realtime (Barenholtz)
"California video artist Jody Gillerman (walking around in black leather and a huge red LED bracelet) ... " (Lehrman)
Gillerman created the (pre-recorded) Computer Graphics and performed the Live Video Processing, mixing all elements of the performance in real-time - that were projected on huge screens for the audience ... (Barenholtz)
Gillerman and Piche were visible on their respective machines/instruments the entire time ... (Barenholtz)
Gillerman and Piché did extensive rehearsing for the performance that was highly scripted, though totally LIVE (Barenholtz)
Gillerman was operating the Image Processor and also on camera for the first performances of WHISPERS ... (Barenholtz)

Artweek 1985

(Oct, Vol 16, Number 34)

REVIEW by Christine Tamblyn: "Mill Valley Film Video Festival"

(excertps)

"Fortunately, JoAnn GIllerman's Orchid, which shows baroquely elegant digitized images of orchids dissolving and reforming indicated that computer graphics systems can be used to produce viable alternatives to "video wallpaper"."

IEEE Computer Graphics Magazine

(Year: 1986, Volume: 6, Issue: 12, Cover and Pages: 4-7)

"About the Cover: Dancing Orchids and Other Art" by Margaret Neal

(JoAnn Gillerman - Cover and Feature Article)

(excerpts)

FINE ARTS BACKGROUD AND CONTEXT FOR ELECTRONIC ART: "Gillerman started painting and sculpting, but she soon found her drawing and painting tools were inadequate for what she visualized. In those media she couldn't have motion, and she couldn't make moving colors. So, about 10 years ago she took to the computer and started experimenting." ... "With the computer," says Gillerman, "I can do things that don't exist in the real world and manipulate them

quickly and easily, going though many permutations."

NEW ART FORM: "The show is really a new art form. The stage is set with three screens: one center stage measures 15' x 20' and two on the sides of the stage measuring 20' x 20' each. Slides dissolve on the two side screens while a live performer takes center stage under the center screen. This is all done to live music, and Gillerman coordinates the entire thing in real-time."
"Legacy: And, all these discoveries of things to do with theoretical computer graphics are liberally shared with students at the California College of Arts and Crafts, where Gillerman has taught for a number of years and is now head of the Film and Video Department."
"The future: Gillerman's first project for the future is to take this multi-image, live show and computer graphic animated video show around the world. But there is more going on in her busy head. She is starting work on a feature-length horror movie ..."
ELECTRIC DREAM PICKED UP BY PARAMOUNT: "This will come right on the heels of a four-minute music video, called Electric Dream, which has been picked up by Paramount for distribution through the home video market."
KNOWN FOR EXPERIMENTATION: "Obviously this is a name we will all see again and again as interest in computer graphic animation grows and as Gillerman continues to experiment with her multimedia videotape shows."

The Oakland Museum of California,
May/June 1990, Volume 13, number 6

Video Visions, Electronic Dreams

by Liz Kotz
JoAnn Gillerman: "Whispers in a Plane of Light", "Electric Dream" and "Orchid

excerpt

...Gillerman uses the technology of computer-generated and re-processed images combined with electronic and acoustic music to develop different ways of making abstract visual designs. Technically innovative and graphically oriented, the three videotapes, display some of the diverse possibilities offered by new computer arts technologies for work in video.

(Click Article above or Picture below for complete writing)

ORCHID LIVE PERFORMANCE

SIGGRAPH '86 ELECTRONIC THEATRE

Arena, Dallas Convention Center

"The show is really a new art form.

Slides dissolve on side screens while a live performer takes center stage under the center screen. This is all done to live music, and Gillerman coordinates the entire thing in real-time."

— Margaret Neal,

Dancing Orchids and Other Art

IEEE/Computer Graphics Magazine

ORCHID Live Performance, Siggraph '86, Arena, Dallas Convention Center, TX

(Photo: rehearsal/setup) Gillerman and Buxton (left of stage visible to audience) are controlling live performance visuals/music.

The PROJECTIONS: Center screen - Live Amiga/Cameras on Performer (with Neon) on stage during performance, Lower Screens: Coordinated Slide Dissolves of Orchid Series Computer Graphics Images by Gillerman (created on Aurora VideoGraphics System)

"Tonight's performance is a unique combination of integrating Amiga and a Fairlight. Produced by Jo Ann Gillerman and Bill Buxton, "Orchid", is a multi-image live performance that creatively combines music and visuals in a live context. The slides were done on an Aurora Videographics System. The video utilizes current hardware and software. On one of the Amigas, a Frame Grabber allows live camera images to be mixed with the D-Video script of processed digital images. Commodore/Amiga of New York donated the Amigas and A2 donated the digitizer." — Siggraph Program 1986

The people involved in tonight's performance are:

Jo Ann Gillerman - Producer/Director, Video, Computer Graphics, SLides and D-Video Script.

Bill Buxton - Producer/Music

Rob Terry - Technical Assistance, Fairlight Operator and D-Video Script

Jim Whiteaker - Cameraman

Gretchen Bright - Performer

References: (details/articles below)

• IEEE/ Computer Graphics: About the Cover: Dancing Orchids and Other Art" by Margaret Neal

"The show is really a new art form. The stage is set with three screens: one center stage measures 15' x 20' and two on the sides of the stage measuring 20' x 20' each.

Slides dissolve on the two side screens while a live performer takes center stage under the center screen. This is all done to live music, and Gillerman coordinates the

entire thing in real-time."

• VID Magazine: "First video revolution. Now the video revelation." Vol. 2, Number 1, 1987, "The Amiga, The Videophile's Dream" by David Beasly

• Robo City News, 1987, Amiga Does SIGGRAPH '86 by Wendy Peterson:

"In the midst of an annual event designed to pay homage to computer graphics generated on big, sophisticated, expensive (try $30K and up) mainframes, there was

video artist JoAnn Gillerman with her Amiga, Genloc, LIVE! Frame-Grabber, Deluxe Video, camera, dancer, neon lighting, three 20 foot projection screens."

GILLERMAN IN AUSTRALIA - 1983

Jo Ann Gillerman Artist Residency, Metro Television, Sydney, Australia, 1983

(Brought my NTSC Analog Sandin Image Processor/Synthesizer with me to set up in a PAL MetroTV Studio)

Sydney Morning Herald

No. 45,368, 1983, Australia

"Video for the '80's: Jo Ann Gillerman in Sydney" by Margaret Werghein

Jo Ann Gillerman, a video artist and producer from California, is in Sydney ...
Gillerman, an assistant professor in video art at California College of Arts and Crafts, has been brought out by Metro Television for two weeks to give workshops in high tech video. She works with the latest in video effects equipment, and has brought a unique processor/video synthesizer with her
Much of her work is associated with the music clip in images choreographed to a particular particular piece of music. The music is usually by her brother, James Gillerman, with whom (in conjunction with a third person) she has a video production company, Viper Optics, in Oakland, California.
Until recently, interest in the kind of work Gillerman is doing has been mainly from academic and artistic circles. She was represented in shows at the International Computer Arts Exhibition in Tokyo in 1977 and 1978 and at many galleries and museums in the States.
Gillerman has also been active as a performance artist, staging audio visual events using live pre-recorded and synthesized video with dancers and other performers. A highlight has been the fourth and fifth annual Hooker's Ball in San Francisco.

The New TV Magicians

Margaret Werghein Reports

Sydney, Australia, 1983

Jo Ann Gillerman at Metro Television, Sydney, Australia, 1983

"Metro Television, Sydney's access video center, brought Jo Ann Gillerman, an American video artist, to Australia for two weeks to give workshops and demonstrations in high-tech video. She brought with her the Sandin [Video} Image Processor, which she built herself from circuits diagrams supplied by its designer, Dan Sandin, a researcher at the University of Illinois, Chicago."
... "creating a new medium for artists. American Jo Ann Gillerman produced the sequence (above) and the cube (opposite/below) which "plays" with an image of Gillerman herself. Such techniques devised by the computer in fractions of a second, are revolutionizing TV image-making.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION
FREEZE FRAME
AUG/SEPT 1985

WOMEN'S VIDEO ART SHOWCASE

Review by Julie Nolan

(excerpt)

... MOIRÉ by Jo Ann Gillerman went beyond any search for meaning with a kind of visual poetry that is a real treat to watch. Here the imagery itself is the thing: ... a female form - where light, color and editing create an experience not totally unlike viewing certain other forms of modern art.

TheEnterprise

Newspaper

1st Year, No.87 Sunday, May 29, 1983

Hayward/Oakland, California

'Clone Baby'

Art of the future

by David Weinstein

Ms. Gillerman, who heads the film and video department at the California College of Arts and Crafts, built a video synthesizer in 1975 ... Based on designs by electronics expert Dan Sandin, the machine, which ... would be considered low tech today but can still create whirlwinds of imagery on command. ... Ms. Gillerman moved to Oakland in 1976 and formed Viper Optics ... [with] Jim Whiteaker, a graphics artist ... [and] James Gillerman, her brother, studied electronic music at Mills College [and was] a member of Ron Pellegrino's Real Electric Symphony which played "contemporary art music a la John Cage. ... On the arts scene they are already succeeding. The Whitney Museum in New York recently selected several Viper Optics tapes for a show called "Video-Music", which was exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Clone Baby," one of their most popular tapes, was also shown as a short on TV's "Creature Features." A razzle dazzle series of visual jokes accompanied by a new-wave beat, the tape is fast and fun.

Ms. Gillerman, who heads the film and video department at the California College of Arts and Crafts, built a video synthesizer in 1975 ... Based on designs by electronics expert Dan Sandin ...
Ms. Gillerman moved to Oakland in 1976 and formed Viper Optics ...
In the 80's Viper Optics included: Jim Whiteaker, a graphics artist ... [and] James Gillerman, her brother, who studied electronic music at Mills College [and was] a member of Ron Pellegrino's Real* Electric Symphony which played "contemporary art music a la John Cage.
On the arts scene they are already succeeding. The Whitney Museum in New York recently selected several Viper Optics tapes for a show called "Video-Music", which was exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
"Clone Baby," one of their most popular tapes, was also shown as a short on TV's "Creature Features." A razzle dazzle series of visual jokes accompanied by a new-wave beat, the tape is fast and fun.

WEIRD OTHER - 1980's
details below in Reference Materials

ON TELEVISION:

Creature Features with John Stanley

KTVU/Channel 2 | 1984
Clone Baby (Viper Video) & LIVE INTERVIEW

Live Video Interview with Jo Ann Gillerman and James Gillerman of Viper Optics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ENzLrmcPk
Original Sound and Visuals by Viper Optics:JoAnn Gillerman, Jim Whiteaker, James Gillerman

∞

PRESENTATION | Tuskegee

BIMS: 2nd Symposium on Biomedical Information Management Systems

Sept. 14-16, 1987

School of Veterinary Medicine, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama

Jo Ann Gillerman: Computer Graphics, Video and Composite Image Making

Art, Medical and Scientific Imaging systems

and creating Orchid on cover of IEEE/Computer Graphics)

Presentation/workshop (Session V11)

∞

PRODUCED FEATURE FILM
Night Feeder
A Gillerman • Whiteaker • Gillerman Film
Shot on Video
Feature Length -94 min. © 1988

Jim Whiteaker: Director
James Gillerman: Producer, Sound
JoAnn Gillerman: Art Director, Editor

Theatrical Release:
Roxy Theater, San Francisco, CA 1989, 2015
Distribution:
• Exclusive International Distribution, FATW/NY 1990-1993
• All Markets Distribution, Mondo/Bleeding Skull/TX 2015-2019
• All Markets, SRS/NY 2020-current

Reference Materials Below (80's)

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 80's -
are available in "Reference Materials -70's" (below ) - click picture or article name to link to page with more information and complete article

Artweek 1985, Oct, Vol 16, Number 34

The Mill Valley Festival by Christine Tamblyn

REVIEW:

(excerpts)

A particular focus this year was the blending of video and performance....

Labat and Heyward also participated in a panel discussion about video and performance, together with Jo Ann Gillerman, Lynn Hershman and Patrick Morgan. The panel indicated that video performance is in a state of transition - from the exploration of interface between art and life that characterized its early days to a new phase of experimentation with the conjunction between computer graphics and live action. ...

Fortunately, JoAnn GIllerman's Orchid, which shows baroquely elegant digitized images of orchids dissolving and reforming indicated that computer graphics systems can be used to produce viable alternatives to "video wallpaper".

...

The Oakland Museum of California,
May/June 1990, Volume 13, number 6

Video Visions, Electronic Dreams by Liz Kotz
JoAnn Gillerman: "Whispers in a Plane of Light", "Electric Dream" and "Orchid

IEEE Computer Graphics

Year: 1986, Volume: 6, Issue: 12, Pages: 4-7

Magazine

https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/cg/1986/12/mcg1986120004/13rRUxE04na ("Dancing Orchids and Other Art")

Jo Ann Gillerman - Cover and Feature Article

"About the Cover: Dancing Orchids and Other Art" by Margaret Neal

... "Gillerman started painting and sculpting, but she soon found her drawing and painting tools were inadequate for what she visualized. In those media she couldn't have motion, and she couldn't make moving colors. So, about 10 years ago she took to the computer and started experimenting." ...

"With the computer," says Gillerman, "I can do things that don't exist in the real world and manipulate them quickly and easily, going though many permutations."

...

Video of Whispers in a Plane of Light,

* Note: this entire piece is live, there are no edits, everything is being switched and controlled in real time during performance. There are no edits in the video.

Digicon 83: Context for Computer Art

by Jerry Barenholtz

Interdisciplinary Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, B.C.,Canada

Digi-Success: Gillerman/Piché

(complete piece)

Excerpts below and side:

... "ten-minute live performance by Jean Piché on a Fairlight Computer Music Instrument, and Jody Gillerman on a Sandin IP (Video Image Processor). Considering the piece's technical complexity and aesthetic ambitions, it should have been included in the showcase presentation at the Playhouse. However, by virtue of its success, this piece would have been out of place in that presentation."

"Gillerman was to be controlling other [live in real time] aspects of the video. Piché was to modify the sounds and Gillerman was to modify other [live in real time] controls in response to the synthesized images appearing on the monitor. Jim Whiteaker, a colleague of Gillerman's, was running three cameras, and he too was adjusting zoom, f-stops, etc. in response to the images on the screen. In addition to the three camera sources, there as a prerecorded videotape which had been created by Gillerman on an Aurora graphics computer, and there were several grid and band like patterns being generated within the IP (controlled live by Gillerman). The sound sources included both performers chanting into microphones, Piché's live improvisations of the Fairlight, and pre-programed sections which he had prepared for playback through the Fairlight. The total piece thus consisted of a feedback loop containing five video sources, four audio sources, three people, two electronic wonders, and one video projector (for the benefit of the audience), as well as a clutch of assorted cameras, VTR's, speakers, etc. and several miles of hookup wire."

"The overall piece was unquestionably erotic. ... In addition to the twin technical triumphs of getting so many machines working together and controlling such a complex feedback loop without collapse or runaway, Gillerman and Piché presented the audience with a fine, subtle, sensual fantasy, which danced smoothly and confidently around the space bounded in one dimension by the personal and mythical, and in another dimension by the male and female."

"Gillerman was visible to the audience, and it was evident that she was merely rubbing her shoulder with one hand and twiddling knobs on the IP with the other. Likewise, one could see that Piché was just chanting into a microphone and playing keyboards, rather than the "oohing" and "aahing" which appeared on the video monitor.

The piece was very much a study in sensuality and erotic fantasy. ... Piché had direct control over not only the content of the image of himself (position and facial expression), but also over the way it appeared in the overall image. GIllerman too had this type of context/content control: In addition to being herself always on camera, the entire image was being assembled in the IP, which she was running via its front panel controls. [* all in real time]

...

CREATIVE COMPUTING
VOL. 10, NO. 4 / APRIL 1984 / PAGE 172

Complete Article: https://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n4/164_Digicon_83.php

Digicon 83. by Paul D. Lehrman.

Jody Gillerman Takes It Off

Whispers in a Plane of Light Live Performance, Digicon 83, Vancouver, Canada

Jo Ann Gillerman (video) in Live Performance with Jean Piché (music)

Sydney Morning Herald
No. 45,368, 1983
Sydney, Australia
"Video for the '80's: Jo Ann Gillerman in Sydney",
by Margaret Werghein

Jo Ann Gillerman, a video artist and producer from California, is in Sydney to unveil some of it.

Gillerman, an assistant professor in video art at California College of Arts and Crafts, has been brought out by Metro Television for two weeks to give workshops in high tech video. She works with the latest in video effects equipment, and has brought a unique processor/video synthesizer with her for use in the workshops and demonstrations.

Much of her work is associated with the music clip in images choreographed to a particular particular piece of music. The music is usually by her brother, James Gillerman, with whom (in conjunction with a third person) she has a video production company, Viper Optics, in Oakland, California.

Until recently, interest in the kind of work Gillerman is doing has been mainly from academic and artistic circles. She was represented in shows at the International Computer Arts Exhibition in Tokyo in 1977 and 1978 and at many galleries and museums in the States.

Gillerman has also been active as a performance artist, staging audio visual events using live pre-recorded and synthesized video with dancers and other performers. A highlight has been the fourth and fifth annual Hooker's Ball in San Francisco.

"The New TV Magicians"
Margaret Wertheim Reports

Sydney, Australia, 1983

Jo Ann Gillerman at Metro Television, Sydney, Australia, 1983

Excerpts:

"... Metro Television, Sydney's access video center, brought Jo Ann Gillerman, an American video artist, to Australia for two weeks to give workshops and demonstrations in high-tech video. She brought with her the Sandin [Video} Image Processor, which she built herself from circuits diagrams supplied by its designer, Dan Sandin, a researcher at the University of Illinois, Chicago." ...

"Gillerman, who works from Oakland, California, also uses a digital animation device called Aurora. ... Gillerman is one of several artists who use the studio at Aurora Systems. Being conversant with the technology behind it she is an ideal person to get the maximum out of this versatile new toy."

Caption: Abstract shapes evolve from one another, creating a new medium for artists. American Jo Ann Gillerman produced the sequence (above) and the cube (opposite/below) which "plays" with an image of Gillerman herself. Such techniques devised by the computer in fractions of a second, are revolutionizing TV image-making.

ELECTRIC DREAM
4 min. musicvideo (original video and music) - © 1984 Viper Optics
by Viper Optics (JoAnn Gillerman, Jim Whiteaker, James Gillerman)

Grand Prize winner BEST EXPERIMENTAL VIDEO
Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival 1986

THEATRICAL RELEASE

UC Theater/Berkeley/CA 1986

DISTRIBUTION: Paramount Home Video

"Best of the Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival 1986" on VHS/DVD"

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION
FREEZE FRAME
AUG/SEPT 1985

WOMEN'S VIDEO ART SHOWCASE

Review by Julie Nolan

(excerpt)

'Clone Baby'

Art of the future

by David Weinstein

TheEnterprise

1st Year, No.87 Sunday, May 29, 1983

Hayward/Oakland, California

SIGGRAPH/Japan,
Exhibition of Computer Graphics
in collaboration with
Siggraph 83 Art Exhibition,
Japan

(published/distribution)

Clone Baby Computer Graphics/JoAnn Gillerman
Created on Aurora Video Graphics System and Sandin Image Processor

The Amiga, the Videophiles Dream
by David Easley (complete article)

VID Magazine, Vol. 2, Number 1, 1987
First video revolution Now the video revelation.

ORCHID LIVE PERFORMANCE at SIGGRAPH 86, Dallas Convention Center, TX

The Amiga, the Videophiles Dream
by David Easley

Excerpt:

"Because of the precision and flexibility of the Amiga computing power we are beginning to see and hear some astounding video art. At SIGGRAPH 86 in Dallas, the outstanding video artist Jo Ann Gillerman presented "Orchid, A Live Performance". This piece was a daring and sensual montage of live nude performers and real time computer generated graphics. To accomplish this Gillerman used two Amigas, the Fairlight C.V.I., a four minute Deluxe Video script, and the Amiga Live Digitizer."

The SF Bay Guardian: After Dark, Sept 18, 1985, Vol 19, No 48

Bay Area Video is Booming

After Dark - Full Page Cover Image: 'Orchid' by Jo Ann Gillerman

COVER IMAGE and Caption:

Jo Ann Gillerman's 'Orchid' is among the video-art tapes being presented by the Mill Valley Videofest

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Video-Music: New Correlations, 1982 (traveling)

(Viper Optics: JoAnn Gillerman, Jim Whiteaker, James Gillerman)

https://history.siggraph.org/artwork/jo-ann-gillerman-five-responses-to-the-political-condition-now/

SIGGRAPH 1982: Art Show '82
Siggraph 1982 Video Review/Archive

Jo Ann Gillerman
Pentagon I & II, Five Responses to the Political Condition 1980, Orchid, Clone Baby, Untitled

Works Published/Distributed by Siggraph Video Reviews and Archive - Computer Graphics | Video | Video Synthesis

WEIRD OTHER 1980's

Clone Baby by Viper Optics and Interview with James Gillerman and JoAnn Gillerman on Creature Features with John Stanley, Channel 2/KTVU, 1984

On Television:

Creature Features with John Stanley - KTVU/Channel 2 - 1984
Clone Baby | Viper Video – MusicVideo Broadcast and

Live Video Interview with Jo Ann Gillerman and James Gillerman of Viper Optics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ENzLrmcPk

Original Sound and Visuals by Viper Optics:JoAnn Gillerman, Jim Whiteaker, James Gillerman

BIMS: 2nd Symposium on Biomedical Information Management Systems, Sept. 14-16, 1987,

School of Veterinary Medicine, Tuskegee University

Tuskegee, Alabama

Jo Ann Gillerman: Computer Graphics, Video and Composite Image Making

Art, Medical and Scientific Imaging systems

Presentation/workshop (Session V11)

Night Feeder
Gillerman • Whiteaker • Gillerman Film
Shot on Video
Feature Length -94 min.
© 1988

Jim Whiteaker: Director
James Gillerman: Producer, Sound
JoAnn Gillerman: Art Director, Editor

Theatrical Release:
Roxy Theater, San Francisco, CA 1989, 2015

Distribution:
• Exclusive International Distribution, FATW/NY 1990-1993
• All Markets Distribution, Mondo/Bleeding Skull/TX 2015-2019
• All Markets, SRS/NY 2020-current

Podcast:

"Splat from the Past"

an interview with

Jo Ann Gillerman about

Night Feeder

October, 2023

Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman
https://www.joanngillerman.com
https://art-pod.org
https://vipervertex.com

1970's
1980's
1990's
2000's
2010's
2020's

An accurate and complete Biographical Piece - JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor (Art Historian) -
was written for "Women of Vision" Journal and Works Broadcasts on PBS/KCSM hosted by Jan Yanehiro
is a good overview of JoAnn Gillerman and her art works in the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's
Excerpts are Referenced Below with links to complete article

VIDEO

1990's

Gillerman, AnArchy pARTyCAM - real-time Improv cyber performances 1993-1995

OVERVIEW: What to cover: Gillerman's summary of the 1990's

The 90's were mostly characterized by interactive works in varied media and forms. Experimentation with a variety of new and custom software for creative interfaces, and sensor- controlled environments: music/midi Saxophone controlling on-screen images, light (neon) wand moving in free space controlling on-screen elements of video images, floor-sensor controlled images and sounds, all with intent to design (ubiquitous) environments to engage audience interaction in creative user-friendly ways – without using a mouse or keyboard. Interactive Installations include: "EROS INterACTive", "The Sun Drops it's Torch". In performance, this took form of creative ways to non-threateningly interface with the public in real-time - "AnArchy pARTyCAM", Cyber performance/Fashion). I also used (then new) Interactive Digital Video Media - pressing my own CD-ROM discs - to create: Interactive Narratives on Interactive laserdisc and CD-ROM: "Night Feeder Interactive" CD-ROM - Dallas Museum of Art, "Intijiwana"- an interactive CD-ROM (Bolivian Eclipse/Argentina). (Image of Gillerman in her Studio with Neon Wand).

Continuing studies in human interaction, as Tritonia Feldspar, I did a series of impromptu real-time, public interactions/interventions of a social, political nature - interacting in real-life public environments. Interactivity was optional, voluntary not forced. I was interactive artist for a virtual month-long residency and public discourse on ArtsWire. (ArtsWire hosts: Judy Malloy & Anna Couey, New York Foundation for the Arts, NYFA (Archived on The Well) created a very early art-centered Internet environment (virtual online) for artists exploring interactive art for public reach.

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSES and ACTIVE VOLCANIC LAVA FLOWS, Art and Science: (Life-long passions/interests since childhood)

Though I had experienced (and immersively recorded) my first total solar eclipse on the WA/OR border in 1979, it wasn't until the 1990's that this became a major focus of my work. Also in the 1990, I experience/recorded - at very close range - the leading edge of actively flowing lava from the volcano, KILAUEA in Hawaii. Knowing that Kilauea's Lava Flows would be in the narrow path of totality during the 1991 Total Solar Eclipse – I secured access to the geological summit of Mauna Kea (years in advance) to record the Total Solar Eclipse and active lava flows. I designed several custom video camera mounts to pan the horizon 360 degrees for the duration of the total solar eclipse – and others to capture the eclipsing sun. (Celeste Connor's Biography piece refers to this).

Integrating art, science, mythology, folklore and cultural elements surrounding total solar eclipses and active volcanoes became a focus for much of my work. I travel the world - sometimes to very remote places – to be "in the shadow" – and to capture these experiential, extraordinary, surreal, light-changing (truly awesome!) natural events in varied surround media art forms - to present macro-cosmic phenomena in experiential micro-cosmic art scale to the public. This informs my works for (now) decades – and has led to installations, museum exhibits, multi-channel video, 360/fulldome projection, Early Virtual Reality, Digital Print Light Panels, video and more. (works include: "Volcanic Eclipse" Video, "The Sun Drops its Torch" an interactive, floor sensor-contolled, multimedia, multi-channel immersive installation/environment, and a series of "Kilauea's Pu'uO'o active lava flows" video works and installations over decades.

Combining this body of work integrating art, science, culture and often custom and new technologies, led to "Shadow Dance: Interactive Eclipse Exhibit", a floor-sensor controlled installation, at Chabot Space and Science center/Oakland/CA in 2001 (installed for 8 years).

SIGNIFICANT ART WORKS (1990's)
Interactive MulitMedia, Multi-channel Installation, Sensor-controlled Environments, Real-time Video, Interactive CD-ROM, Interactive Narrative (non-linear),

Improvisational Interactive Cyber Performance and Cyber Fashion, Video

(Reference Materials below)

INFO PAGE:

PLAY VIDEO:

References: (details/articles below)

• JoAnn GIllerman by Celeste Connor, Women of Vision (below)

• Artweek, February 1995, Volume 26, Number 2 - Artists and Technology by Leigh Ann Clifton, p23

• San Francisco Focus, Ray Fans by Susan Fry

• Blasthaus, San Francisco - April 1995

https://www.vipervertex.com/Exhibits/exhibit_travel-SDT.htm

References: (details/articles below)

• "JoAnn GIllerman by Celeste Connor", Women of Vision (below)

• Artweek, February 1995, Volume 26, Number 2 - "O Brave New Digital World!" by Miles Beller, Photo/"EROS Interactive/1994, p15

• Artweek, February 1995, Volume 26, Number 2 - Artists and Technology by Leigh Ann Clifton, p23

• .San Francisco Focus, Ray Fans by Susan Fry

• LEONARDO Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, Volume 29 Number 4 1996 - "Words on Works"- Artist Jo Ann Gillerman

• ArtsWire: "A Conversation with JoAnn Gillerman", Interactive Art Conference on ArtsWire, OnLine, Aug. 1996 -- Hosted by Judy Malloy and Anna Couey

* CyberMonde/CYBERWORLD, Montreal, Quebec

* Exploratorium: MultiMedia Playground

• Blasthaus "For Immediate Release" - William Linn, Curator

• San Francisco Bay Guardian, June 7-13, 1995, Critic's Choice by Harry Roche

Intereactive Installation installed:

• Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA, Special Exhibits in MultiMedia Playground (Feb- Mar, 1994)

• Blasthaus Gallery, San Francsico, CA- "IN (No Sense) DEFENSE" group show of Interactive Tech/Cyber Art. (April-June, 1995)

• Cybermonde/Cyberworld, La Cité des Arts et des Nouvelles Technologies de Montreal, Quebec, Canada (May-Sept, 1997)

AnArchy pARTyCAM – improvisational and impromptu public cyber performances and cyber-wear – appearing at public events, the Nixon Library, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SFMOMA, Fashion Deisng Center, Be-In, Oliver Art Gallery/CCA, FOrt Mason/SF/CA, and many others (1993-1995)

References: (details/articles below)

• LEONARDO Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, Volume 29 Number 4 1996 - "Words on Works"- Artist Jo Ann Gillerman

• ArtsWire: "A Conversation with JoAnn Gillerman", Interactive Art Conference on ArtsWire, OnLine, Aug. 1996 -- Hosted by Judy Malloy and Anna Couey

• "AnARCHY (partycam) - Cobra Lounge, Fort Mason Center, SF, CA: JoAnn Gillerman and Rob Terry,

"Roving interactive perfomance of spontaneous collaboration through live video camera and real-time mobile projection" - Art Teco '94 produced by Morph's Outpost on the

Digital Frontier and Creative Labs Present "Cobra Lounge".

Appearing Live: Interactie Cyber Performances/Cybe Fashion:

• Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 1994

• Museum of Maodern Art, San Francisco, CA

• Cowell Theatre, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA, & Herbst Pavillion, Fort Mason Center, SF/CA, June '94

• Nixon Library, Orange County

• Digital Art Be-In, The Digital Frontier Exhibition, Verbum, Inc., Fashion Design Center, San Francisco,CA 1994

EROS INterACTive -Real-time video/audio forum on innovations and technology (Be-In, Moscone Center/In No Sense Defense)

References: (details/articles below)

• JoAnn GIllerman by Celeste Connor", Women of Vision (below)

• Artweek, February 1995, Volume 26, Number 2 - "O Brave New Digital World!" by Miles Beller, Photo/"EROS Interactive/1994, p15 (photo/EROS Interactive)

• LEONARDO Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, Volume 29 Number 4 1996 - "Words on Works"- Artist Jo Ann Gillerman

• ArtsWire: "A Conversation with JoAnn Gillerman", Interactive Art Conference on ArtsWire, OnLine, Aug. 1996 -- Hosted by Judy Malloy and Anna Couey

• Future Sex, Issue seven - "Talk DIrty to Me" - EROS INterACTive in the New Sensation Exhibition, Moscone Center, San Francicso, CA

Interactie Installation:

• The Ubiquitous Art Zone, SIG/ACM Multimedia, Hyatt Regency Ball Room, San Francisco, CA, 1994

• New Sensation Exhibition, Seybold, Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA, 1993

• Digital Art Be-In, The Digital Frontier Exhibition, Verbum, Inc., Fashion Design Center, San Francisco,CA 1994 (Viper Optics)

Kundalini and Baseball - experiments with neon light (wand)contolling images on screen (* image of JoAnn Gillerman in her studio - above)

References: (details/articles below)

• ArtsWire: "A Conversation with JoAnn Gillerman", Interactive Art Conference on ArtsWire, OnLine, Aug. 1996 -- Hosted by Judy Malloy and Anna Couey

Night Feeder Interactive: CD-ROM - collaboration with Rob Terry

References: (details/articles below)

• ArtsWire: "A Conversation with JoAnn Gillerman", Interactive Art Conference on ArtsWire, OnLine, Aug. 1996 -- Hosted by Judy Malloy and Anna Couey

• Dallas Museum of Modern Art, Dallas, TX (invited/curated)

Intijiwana: Interactive CD-ROM - Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1996 (Interactive '94 Total Solar Eclipse in Bolivia)

References: (details/articles below)

• JoAnn GIllerman by Celeste Connor", Women of Vision (below)

• Artweek, February 1995, Volume 26, Number 2 - Artists and Technology by Leigh Ann Clifton, p23

• ArtsWire: "A Conversation with JoAnn Gillerman", Interactive Art Conference on ArtsWire, OnLine, Aug. 1996 -- Hosted by Judy Malloy and Anna Couey

• II Festival Internacional de Video y Artes Electronicas, Buenos Aires - Argentina, 1996, CD-ROM, Teatro General San Martin, Organized by Gobierno de la Ciudad de

Buenos Aires Secretaria de Cutura

Social Practice/Outreach Art Project:

Hey, Listen Up! An Urban Eco-Literacy Project on Environmental Racism/Justice, Sponsored by Urban Habitat Program of the Earth island Institute

• Project Collaboration with Belvie Rooks, and Carl Anthony of Urban Habitat

• Interactive CD-ROM, High-school Curriculum, Interactive Multimedia Workshops - onsite in Watts/Compton, Los Angeles, California

References: (details/articles below)

• JoAnn GIllerman by Celeste Connor", Women of Vision ("expanding her themes into Community based projects: ...below)

Electro-Healing Interactive Installation (light sensor controlled environment), collaborative installation with the New Media Arts Class (CCAC) in Tomorrow's Realities, Siggraph Art Show 1993

• JoAnn GIllerman by Celeste Connor", Women of Vision ("expanding her themes into Community based projects: ...below)

• ACM/SIggraph 95 Proceedings Electro-Healing by JoAnn Gillerman

Biographies and Writings ABOUT JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman
Overview of the 1990's

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 90's -
are available in "Reference Materials -90's" (below ) - click picture/article name to link to page with more information and complete article

Bullet Points (below writing) signify important Key Points

JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor

Women of Vision Journal, Summer 1997 Season

Complete Article: JoAnn Gillerman by Celeste Connor

(excerpts below)

The early '80's were also significant in Gillerman's development of new subject matter for her art. On February 26, 1979, she had witnessed in person a total solar eclipse at the Washington-Oregon border. Not only did she capture the event on several videotapes, but this was also the first time she employed a panning device. The new method, which Gillerman still uses in recording such celestial events, supplied the artist with unique compositions and novel views of the environment. Gillerman's passion for the optical pleasures of extraordinary astronomical occurances magnetized her to the lrgest island of Hawaii in July 11, 1991 to observe and record a total solar eclipse. This occasion is represented in the six minute video Volcanic Eclipse that will be broadcast as part of the Women of Vision series on KCSM-TV. The same spectacular confluence of natural events is also the subject of an interactive installation by Gillerman titled The Sun Drops its Torch, a ten monitor multi-channel interactive environment that was featured at the Blasthaus Gallery in San Francisco, in 1995. The original footage and sound was recorded on location by Gillerman and Rob Terry, with whom she often collaborates.

In some sense, Volcanic Eclipse inaugurated a new phase of Gillerman's work. The neon glow of the molten lava and the unique quality of light that emanates from the flow inspired the higher pitched palette of subsequent works. As viewers will see, Gillerman's two hour hours of on-sight videotaped material has been meticulously edited. The chosen six minutes of remaining imagery highlight the visual splendor of the coincidence of a total solar eclipse with t eruption of an active volcano. The most visually compelling and memorable shots remain for our pleasure and education. Without the mediation of this image maker, how many of us would have dared to witness this profound - but also dangerous - event? Not only is Volcanic Eclipse marked by the obvious care and patience that accompanied the artful selection of images from raw footage, but it is also enhanced by the use of a 360 degree panning device that Gillerman and Terry use to capture an "in-the-round" experiential, quality for their viewers. This "surround" effect is especially forceful when the imagery is presented in the installation format: The Sun Drops its Torch.

In the six minute videotape, the primary effect of the pan is the notably unusual compositions if affords. In the early 1920's, the American photographer Alfred Stieglitz conducted a series of experiments originally known as Songs of the Sky and later called Equivalents. In the early series and a later version, Stieglitz pointed his camera up into the heavens, frequently omitting a horizon line and other landmarks that traditionally aided viewers in locating their "footing" in the pictorial landscape. Gillerman's Eclipse extends these early panning experiments in a more exotic climate but with similar effect. Her unique framing of the land and sky permits us to view them - and thus conceive of them - freshly. Volcanic Eclipse is a celebration of nature that provides a privileged view of an extraordinary confluence of cosmic events. It thereby challenges our everyday habits of mind by setting the routine thoughts of our more mundane daily events with in the frame of a much wider perspective than our imaginations generally provide.

Gillerman's interest was ignited by the results of the Hawaiian experiment, and so she and Terry chased down another eclipse in a remote are of the Bolivian Andes in November 1994. This resulted in the interactive CD Rom Intijiwana. In October 1995, these collaborators recorded another eclipse in Fatehpur Sikri, India, a well preserved Moghul city of the 16th century about 40 kilometers west of Agra, site of the Taj Mahal. They hope to follow and document similar planetary events to the Carribbean in 1998 and Turkey 1999.

In the nineties, Gillerman continues her interest in interactivity and the audiences' relation to new technology and media. Not only does she keep current in the newest developments of the computer arts, but she is expanding her themes into community based projects that raise different issue of the environment than those of the cosmic explorations.

------ Written by Celeste Connor, art historian

Artweek

February 1995, Volume 26, Number 2

O Brave New Digital World!

by Miles Beller

Photo/Caption: "EROS Interactive, 1994, Multimedia interactive installation", p15

Technology and Art Section

Artists & Technology: some issues of Individual application

by Leigh Ann Clifton

(Multimedia Artist/JoAnn Gillerman- p23)

— Multimedia artist JoAnn Gillerman, who currently teaches at CSU, Hayward, and California College of Arts and Crafts, began experimenting with interactive technologies some twenty years ago, employing pressure sensors and a video imaging processing machine.

One current work-in-progress, The Sun Drops Its Torch, in collaboration with Rob Terry, uses footage of active volcanic lava flow and the 1991 total solar eclipse with an interactive, multi-user system designed to let viewers reconfigure the images, sounds and fragments of the story simply by triggering floor sensors placed around the installation space. A recent addition will include footage shot last November in Bolivia. Along with the interactive installation, Gillerman also has a prototype CD-ROM version of Torch which she hopes to make available on mass basis.

— by Leigh Ann Clifton

Photo/Caption: "EROS Interactive, 1994, Multimedia interactive installation", p15

San Francisco Focus

(Re-branded as San Francisco Magazine in Oct. 1997)

Aug 1997 issue

DARK SIDE OF THE SUN:

ECLIPSE CHASERS ROB TERRY AND JOANN GILLERMAN

Tales of the Cities: Edited by Leslie Crawford

Ray Fans by Susan Fry

Excerpts:

It's 3:36 PM in the abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri, India. Rob Terry and JoAnn Gillerman wait breathlessly in the courtyard of a rose-colored mosque, their cameras pointed toward the sky.

...

Some might argue that however sublime the vision, once you've seen one solar eclipse, you've seen them all. Gillerman says these naysayers are missing out on each eclipse's startling and unique beauty. "Every one is different. In Hawaii, the corona was bluish white. In India, it was the color of steel, with radiating streamers of light."

And, however briefly, eclipses transform the world. "Everything turns golden, winds pick up, it can rain wiithout warning, stars appear in the middle of the day"

...

While Gillerman was the first addict, she says, Terry was an easy convert. Together ... their company, Viper Vertex, produces multimedia exhibits and CR-ROMs so others can see, or rather not see, the light.

LEONARDO

Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology

The MIT Press

Volume 29 Number 4 1996

Complete "Words on Works: JoAnn Gillerman"

https://www.jstor.org/stable/i270980

(and links below)

Words on Works:

Artist: JoAnn Gillerman

The Sun Drops its Torch, Eros Interactive, AnArchy Partycam

Words On Works

edited by Judy Malloy

Words on Works was a series of short, informal statements about new artworks in which art and technology coexist or merge. In the spirit of Leonardo, the information in Words on Works is what the artists themselves have chosen to say about their own work. In some of these statements, rather than describing the work in detail, the artists use nontraditional language that echoes the work itself and is expressive of their vision. By introducing these artists, Words on Works operates in the same way that alternative art spaces operate in the gallery-museum milieu.

Note: Words on Works is now presented in the journal under the "Artists' Statements" section, edited by the journal editors.

Words on Works

JoAnn Gillerman

Excerpts: (from pages 265-267)

My works are environments meant to fully envelope a viewer/ participant in an electronic space and time. To achieve this totality, I address aspects of interactivity, sensitivity to spatial arrangement, sculptural elements and socialization of audiences. Though context, presentation and content have varied (including narrative and non-narrative aspects), exploration of creative new ways to engage in an interactive multimedia environment has remained my constant interest. Current works concentrate on communication and cooperation through interactive installations that use imagery and concepts applicable to varying peoples, cultures and the Earth. Sometimes the content deals with private issues in a public context, and other times a public issue in a private space. I design installations for cooperative multicultural group interaction (i.e. simultaneous use by several participants), as well as individual experiences. Through seductive interfaces that allow viewers/participants ' personal voices to become part of real-time interaction, these pieces question the limited or open parameters of interactivity. I believe that all interactive works respond to some pre-determined parameters, so it is the responsibility and concern of the individual artist to decide what and how much open-ended interaction is desirable or appropriate to the work. Many of my current works try to give a significant portion of this open-ended interaction to its participants. Three recent works include The Sun Drops Its Torch, EROS INterACTive, and AnArchy pARTyCam. All three deal with issues of open-ended interactions using various computer platforms and unusual audience/media interfaces.

...

As the Sun walks the bridge between summer and winter solstices, sometimes he simply drops his torch and thus an eclipse occurs.

—Bella Coola of Northwest Canada

...

I am committed to a multidisciplinary, multicultural and multimedia approach to art making. My work often deals with interactivity, audience participation using intuitive innovative interfaces, multi-user systems that promote cooperative unique experiences and observations of collective group dynamics. Through the use of new technologies and computers, the interfaces remain simple to use and non-technological. This is meant to maximize audience participation and creative experiences in a non-threatening way. Some of these interfaces have included, but are not limited to: floor sensors, light wands, musical instruments that "play" images and other provocative intuitive replacements for the more traditional computer mouse and keyboard. Currently I am working with real-time input (video and audio) from participants for open-ended interactive experiences.

THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

March 2, 1994, Vol. 28, No.22

"Critic's Choice: Art" by Harry Roche

'Color in the Shadows: Bay Area Cyberart'

Photo is: Jo Ann Gillerman in AnArchy pARTyCam,

Live Cyber Performance and Cyber Fashion

* AnArchy pARTyCAM appearing Live

LIST: Video/Media Works Filmography/Videography/Other

LIST: Books/Publications References/Distribution/Writings/Other

Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman https://www.joanngillerman.com https://art-pod.org https://vipervertex.com

LIST: Video/Media Works Filmography/Videography/Other

LIST: Books/Publications References/Distribution/Writings/Other

TEACHING Social Practice, Outreach Published Writings by J. Gillerman

Orchid Series Computer Graphics - Gillerman © 1985 Published: CRASH book

Whispers in a Plane of Light - Gillerman in Live Performance with her Sandin Video Image Processor, Digicon 83, Vancouver, B.C.

Biographies and writings about JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman Overview of the 1970's (below)

1970's

OVERVIEW: What to cover: Gillerman's summary of the 1970's

Biographies and Writings ABOUT JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman Overview of the '70's

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 70's - are available in "Reference Materials -70's" (below )

Click picture and/or underlined article name to link to page with more information and complete article

Bullet Points (below writing) signify important Key Points mentioned in article

OVERVIEW of the '70's - Important points in Biographical Piece by Celeste Connor (above)

EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW MEDIA AND PERFORMANCE "... by the time she received her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1975, she had already begun to experiment in the new media of video and performance. "

SIGNIFICANT ART WORKS (1970's) Video, Muli-Channel, Multi-media Installation, Video Synthesis, Live Video/Music Performance (referred to in Reference Material)

• "Independent Video in San Francisco: A Grand Tour" by Mia Amato, Videography, Volume 5, Number 2 - February 1980

Reference Materials Below (70's)

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 70's - are available in "Reference Materials -70's" (below ) - click picture or article name to link to page with more information and complete article

​

WEIRD OTHER 1970's

Computer History Museum, 1401 N Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94043 First West Coast Computer Faire Proceedings in collection of Computer History Museum https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102725950

FIRST WEST COAST COMPUTER FAIRE 1977 AUDIO Presentation/Paper Jo Ann Gillerman "Video Synthesis & Performance with an Analog Computer"

Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman https://www.joanngillerman.com https://art-pod.org https://vipervertex.com

1980's

ORCHID computer Graphics Video, Gillerman © 1985-1986

ORCHID PLAY VIDEO (3 minutes) Computer Graphics: Jo Ann GIllerman Music/Sound: James Gillerman

Gillerman, WHISPERS IN A PLANE OF LIGHT Live Performance, Digicon 1983, Vancouver, B.C.

WHIPSPERS IN A PLANE OF LIGHT PLAY VIDEO (10 minutes) VIdeo/Computer Graphics: Jo Ann GIllerman Sound: James Gillerman

OVERVIEW: What to cover: Gillerman's summary of the '80's

Biographies and Writings ABOUT JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman Overview of the 1980's

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 80's - are available in "Reference Materials -80's" (below ) - click picture/article name to link to page with more information and complete article

Bullet Points (below writing) signify important Key Points

OVERVIEW of the '80's - Important points in Biographical Piece by Celeste Connor (above)

CREATIVE COMPUTING VOL. 10, NO. 4 / APRIL 1984 / PAGE 172

Complete Article: https://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n4/164_Digicon_83.php

Whispers in a Plane of Light Live Performance, Digicon 83, Vancouver, Canada

OVERVIEW of '80's - Important points in Biographical Pieces: "Digicon 83" by Paul D. Lehrman and Digi-Success by Jerry Barenholtz

The Oakland Museum of California, May/June 1990, Volume 13, number 6

ORCHID LIVE PERFORMANCE

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION FREEZE FRAME AUG/SEPT 1985

WEIRD OTHER - 1980's details below in Reference Materials

∞

∞

PRODUCED FEATURE FILM Night Feeder A Gillerman • Whiteaker • Gillerman Film Shot on Video Feature Length -94 min. © 1988

Reference Materials Below (80's)

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 80's - are available in "Reference Materials -70's" (below ) - click picture or article name to link to page with more information and complete article

The Oakland Museum of California, May/June 1990, Volume 13, number 6

CREATIVE COMPUTING VOL. 10, NO. 4 / APRIL 1984 / PAGE 172

Complete Article: https://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n4/164_Digicon_83.php

Digicon 83. by Paul D. Lehrman.

Jody Gillerman Takes It Off​

Sydney Morning Herald No. 45,368, 1983 Sydney, Australia "Video for the '80's: Jo Ann Gillerman in Sydney", by Margaret Werghein

Grand Prize winner BEST EXPERIMENTAL VIDEO Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival 1986

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION FREEZE FRAME AUG/SEPT 1985

SIGGRAPH/Japan, Exhibition of Computer Graphics in collaboration with Siggraph 83 Art Exhibition, Japan

(published/distribution)

Clone Baby Computer Graphics/JoAnn Gillerman Created on Aurora Video Graphics System and Sandin Image Processor

SIGGRAPH 1982: Art Show '82 Siggraph 1982 Video Review/Archive Jo Ann Gillerman Pentagon I & II, Five Responses to the Political Condition 1980, Orchid, Clone Baby, Untitled

WEIRD OTHER 1980's

Clone Baby by Viper Optics and Interview with James Gillerman and JoAnn Gillerman on Creature Features with John Stanley, Channel 2/KTVU, 1984

On Television:

Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman https://www.joanngillerman.com https://art-pod.org https://vipervertex.com

The Sun Drops its Torch Interactive Installation, Blasthaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA © 1994

Volcanic Eclipse video - Gillerman © 1993

1990's

Gillerman, AnArchy pARTyCAM - real-time Improv cyber performances 1993-1995

OVERVIEW: What to cover: Gillerman's summary of the 1990's

Biographies and Writings ABOUT JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman Overview of the 1990's

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 90's - are available in "Reference Materials -90's" (below ) - click picture/article name to link to page with more information and complete article

Bullet Points (below writing) signify important Key Points

San Francisco Focus

(Re-branded as San Francisco Magazine in Oct. 1997)

Aug 1997 issue

Words On Works

LIST: Video/Media Works
Filmography/Videography/Other

LIST: Books/Publications
References/Distribution/Writings/Other

Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman
https://www.joanngillerman.com
https://art-pod.org
https://vipervertex.com

LIST: Video/Media Works
Filmography/Videography/Other

LIST: Books/Publications
References/Distribution/Writings/Other

TEACHING
Social Practice, Outreach
Published Writings by J. Gillerman

Orchid Series Computer Graphics - Gillerman © 1985
Published: CRASH book

Biographies and writings about JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman
Overview of the 1970's (below)

Biographies and Writings ABOUT JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman
Overview of the '70's

SIGNIFICANT ART WORKS (1970's)
Video, Muli-Channel, Multi-media Installation, Video Synthesis, Live Video/Music Performance
(referred to in Reference Material)

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 70's -
are available in "Reference Materials -70's" (below ) - click picture or article name to link to page with more information and complete article

Computer History Museum, 1401 N Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94043
First West Coast Computer Faire Proceedings
in collection of Computer History Museum
https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102725950

FIRST WEST COAST COMPUTER FAIRE 1977
AUDIO Presentation/Paper
Jo Ann Gillerman
"Video Synthesis & Performance with an Analog Computer"

Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman
https://www.joanngillerman.com
https://art-pod.org
https://vipervertex.com

ORCHID computer Graphics Video,
Gillerman © 1985-1986

ORCHID
PLAY VIDEO (3 minutes)
Computer Graphics: Jo Ann GIllerman
Music/Sound: James Gillerman

Gillerman, WHISPERS IN A PLANE OF LIGHT
Live Performance, Digicon 1983, Vancouver, B.C.

WHIPSPERS IN A PLANE OF LIGHT
PLAY VIDEO (10 minutes)
VIdeo/Computer Graphics: Jo Ann GIllerman
Sound: James Gillerman

Biographies and Writings ABOUT JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman
Overview of the 1980's

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 80's -
are available in "Reference Materials -80's" (below ) - click picture/article name to link to page with more information and complete article

CREATIVE COMPUTING
VOL. 10, NO. 4 / APRIL 1984 / PAGE 172

The Oakland Museum of California,
May/June 1990, Volume 13, number 6

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION
FREEZE FRAME
AUG/SEPT 1985

WEIRD OTHER - 1980's
details below in Reference Materials

PRODUCED FEATURE FILM
Night Feeder
A Gillerman • Whiteaker • Gillerman Film
Shot on Video
Feature Length -94 min. © 1988

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 80's -
are available in "Reference Materials -70's" (below ) - click picture or article name to link to page with more information and complete article

The Oakland Museum of California,
May/June 1990, Volume 13, number 6

CREATIVE COMPUTING
VOL. 10, NO. 4 / APRIL 1984 / PAGE 172

Jody Gillerman Takes It Off

Sydney Morning Herald
No. 45,368, 1983
Sydney, Australia
"Video for the '80's: Jo Ann Gillerman in Sydney",
by Margaret Werghein

Grand Prize winner BEST EXPERIMENTAL VIDEO
Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival 1986

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION
FREEZE FRAME
AUG/SEPT 1985

SIGGRAPH/Japan,
Exhibition of Computer Graphics
in collaboration with
Siggraph 83 Art Exhibition,
Japan

Clone Baby Computer Graphics/JoAnn Gillerman
Created on Aurora Video Graphics System and Sandin Image Processor

SIGGRAPH 1982: Art Show '82
Siggraph 1982 Video Review/Archive

Jo Ann Gillerman
Pentagon I & II, Five Responses to the Political Condition 1980, Orchid, Clone Baby, Untitled

Jo Ann (Jody) Gillerman
https://www.joanngillerman.com
https://art-pod.org
https://vipervertex.com

The Sun Drops its Torch Interactive Installation,
Blasthaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA © 1994

Biographies and Writings ABOUT JoAnn (Jody) Gillerman
Overview of the 1990's

Complete Biographies, Reviews and Writings about JoAnn (Jody) GIllerman - the 90's -
are available in "Reference Materials -90's" (below ) - click picture/article name to link to page with more information and complete article