Film and Video--Artist Formats
Unlike other media, it becomes necessary to preserve film and video through transfer and migration onto more stable bases and file formats. The below formats constitute the original moving image mediums in which Wojnarowicz was known to work with during his lifetime. For accessibility, and to ensure Wojnarowicz's films are available for years to come, these moving images are rarely viewed on these original formats. This selected list primarily takes into account the holdings at Fales Library and Special Collections.
Contents
Super 8mm
Super 8mm was a plastic, analogue film format released by Eastman Kodak in 1965, revolutionizing the widespread ability for amateur films to be made. This particular medium was a favorite of artists involved in the Cinema of Transgression, a movement Wojnarowicz flirted with while appearing in staple members' films, such as the works of Richard Kern and Tommy Turner. Partially due to this influence and also the economic, amateur status of the medium, a majority of footage by Wojnarowicz was filmed on Super 8mm. Although this file format has contained a magnetic strip for recording audio since the early 1970s, Wojnarowicz Super 8mm films have been mostly acquired with no soundtrack included. The film base Wojnarowicz likely worked with would have been on cellulose triacetate, which is susceptible to vinegar syndrome, or a decaying process which releases acetic acid. Due to their fragility, they are rarely accessible in their original format.
Selected Works
Beautiful People, 1988-1989
Where Evil Dwells, 1985, collaboration with Tommy Turner
A Fire in My Belly, A Work in Progress 1986-1987
Heroin,1981
16mm
16mm is a plastic, analogue film format, originally released in 1935, as a more economical answer to filmmaking, especially for amateur use. There are few films shot or migrated to 16mm by Wojnarowicz. Although Super 8mm was the most popular moving image medium for the artist, likely shot on triacetate, all films have been posthumously transferred to polyester based 16mm film for archival preservation.
Selected Works
Fear of Disclosure, The Psycho-social Implications of HIV Revelation, 1988
Analogue Betacam and Betacam SP
Betcam was introduced in 1982 by Sony as a superior videocassette format to the consumer failed U-Matic system. Betacam SP was introduced in 1986, increasing recording time to 90 minutes and horizontal resolution to 340 lines. Both formats are magnetic tape based. Wojnarowicz rarely worked in these formats.
Selected Works
Eleventh Hour; Art and AIDs #1, 1989 (Betcam)
WOJO NEA #1, undated (Betacam SP)
U-Matic Videocassette
U-Matic, also nicknamed the "Three-quarter," due to its size in inches, is a analogue video format, stored on magnetic tape, introduced by Sony in 1971. U-Matic was wholly an unsuccessful format with the consumer market and was therefore used primarily by television stations in the 1980s. Wojnarowicz would sometimes use this format for editing purposes and storing digital audio data, a common use of U-Matic.
Selected Works
ITSOFOMO #3-Edit Master, 1989
ITSOFOMO - Dat Xfer Workprint (audio only), 1989
VHS
Video Home Systems, released in 1977, are analogue video cassette, stored on magnetic videotape. The format was created for the consumer market to create and store video recordings. Wojnarowicz created several recordings on VHS, including the exhibited copies of ITSOFOMO that had been edited on U-Matic.
Selected Works
[ITSOFOMO #1], 1989
[G.I. Joe, Pulverizer, Robots, Evader, Arctic Blast], Undated
Super-VHS
Super Video Home Systems, released in 1987, are analogue video cassettes with magnetic videotape. They provided greater luminance than the standard VHS. Like VHS, this format was created primarily for the consumer market.
Selected Works
[Upstate w/ Marion Scemama], undated
Preservation and Conservation History
Fales Library and Special Collections have been acquiring Wojnarowicz's moving image works since 1997.
Original 8mm film stock has been rehoused in polypropylene containers and their aluminum or plastic canisters have been preserved and stored separately. 16mm transfers were created for all Super 8mm films. Fales Library and Special Collections holds 16mm color internegatives, optical sound negatives (In this case, all subsequent Super 8mm films are silent except for Where Evil Dwells,) composite answer print, and a composite release print. A telecine transfer was then conducted to Digital Betacam or 2K 10-bit uncompressed, HD ProRestHQ Quicktime sound video and DVD, acting as the master file.
