Stooky Bill TV by David Hall

Moving images

'The tape is a caustic glance backwards at Baird's legacy of 'dummy television'. The piece is also a resounding formal success in so far as it presents an image equivalent to the one first produced in 1925. All the trademarks of Hall's work are present here: dry wit, seriousness and the exploration of illusion; the awareness of material conditions and of cultural forms...' [From: Directory of British Film and Video Artists 1996.]

'An imaginary dialogue between the pioneer of television, John Logie Baird, and the eponymous ventriloquist's dummy used as the subject of his experimental cameras... hypothesises the thoughts of Baird and the dummy at the moment of the first successful transmission in October 1925. To Baird's insistence that TV will enable people to see themselves more than ever before, Stooky Bill ripostes that they will be led to demand the fantastical illusion that he represents...' [From: Diverse Practices: A Critical Reader on British Video Art, Arts Council of England, 1996.]

Artist:	David Hall
Artwork type:	Video (specifically - TV interruption)
Style/Period:	video art / contemporary
Material:	Videotape (or other electronic recording materials)
Measurements:	4 minutes
Technique:	Video recording from original 30 line disc scanner and subsequent post?production procedures
Date:	1990
Location:	London / Scotland
Culture:	English
Rights owner:	David Hall
Rights status:	UK HE use only
Institution:	Dundee - Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art

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