Category Archives: Video Art

Virtuous Reality

Virtuous Reality – 2014, Adam Void & Ryan Seslow

We both have mutual friends and roots in graffiti and street art but we connected via the internet. I discovered Adam’s work online several years ago, but it was through the Streaming Festival and a post on  Vandalog.com  that activated us to get working on this series. The process follows a pass the buck arrangement. By using dropbox we wait for each other to complete a video segment and then work off of the last extension of the piece based on our own interpretations. We can both alter, chop, manipulate and re-arrange each others work. This gives us both the option to see our own works through the eyes of another artist. I have learned a lot about how my works can be viewed and perceived. – Ryan Seslow
“One is never certain of the final outcome when an artwork is produced through collaboration. Virtuous Reality was created without a preconceived theme, title, or running time. Each artist was inspired by the previous incarnation of the video, added their piece, rearranged the parts, and in turn, produced a new film at each step of the process. I am pleasantly surprised by the video’s outcome, and hope that the final product stands as a testament to the process by which it was made.” – A.Void

On the Road, 1979 (Concrete Concerto)

John Fekner On The Road 1979 (Concrete Concerto)

John Fekner On The Road 1979 (Concrete Concerto)

2010, 3 minutes.

 This original 1979 8mm silent film was found amongst my old audiotapes and videocassettes. As the film box had survived a flood, I had no idea if anything would be recovered when I had the film transferred to a digital format. All the visual effects are inherent to the water damaged and degraded thirty-year-old silent film stock. There are no effects or edits to the original three-minute standard film. Fred Baca and I drove around Queens and documented the stencils on a few days of shooting in Woodside, Maspeth, Sunnyside and Long Island City. Only the audio track was added, a shortened edit of Concrete Concerto (CC) Oil Drum Mix by the John Fekner City Squad originally released as the B-side of Concrete People, a 12” four song ep record released in 1986.

Concrete People (1986)

Concrete People, 1986, 04:20, John Fekner and his band, City Squad.

In this collaborative City Squad project, John Fekner (vocals, keyboards, percussion, lyrics) wrote the song with musicians Dennis Lattmann (piano, synths) and Al Belfiore (Linn LM-1 drum sequence). Additional musicians included Sasha Sumner (sax), Sandy Mann (vocals) & Sandra Seymour (voice), Anthony Leicht (voice) Julie Federico (voice) and Dennis J. Lattmann (little boy’s voice) and Jim Recchione on harmonica.

Produced by- John Fekner

Directed by- John Fekner & Fred Baca

Edited by- Fred Baca

Chyron by- Mark Braverman

Animation Artists- Andrew Ruhren, John Fekner, Diane Hughes, Kathy Yasenchak, Nader Bakir, John Camara, Melissa Savage

Contributing Artists- Andrew Ruhren, John Fekner, Nader Bakir, Joann Dellaposta, Rachell Lamell, Ann Marie Roza, Lorraine Vigliarolo, Melissa Leigh, Jim Rechione, J.D Luke, John Camara, Ronald Koehnke, David Kornrumpf, Fred Baca, Tim Cantwell,   Melissa Savage

Special Thanks To- Dr. Seth Magot & students at Southampton College LIU, Material For The Arts, NYC, Anders Tornberg Lund, Sweden, The Kitchen, NYC, Monkey Hill Recording Studios

Computer graphics created on the Mindset/Lumena 

Trail Markers (2007)

John Fekner Trail Markers,  2006, 03:52

John Fekner’s Trail Markers is a tribute to the Native American tribes who lived in harmony with the land on Long Island and other areas of New York and New Jersey. The video was shot at various locations in Queens, NY and includes original footage from Environmental Stencils 77-79, a collaborative work with Fred Baca. Fekner considers Trail Markers, a video diptych, as it also features The Sight Of The Child. Two Native Americans narrate the first section. A child from a bleak future narrates the second section.

In this collaborative City Squad project, street artist John Fekner (vocals, keyboards, percusssion, lyrics) wrote the song with musicians Dennis Lattmann (piano, synths) and Al Belfiore (Linn LM-1 drum sequence).