In 2010 I worked with BAVC Media’s Preservation team to convert some old half inch reel-to-reel videotapes to digital files. The tapes were video documentation of my 1975 performance art work Splitting the Axis at the Berkeley Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley. The files were being prepared for a virtual recreation of the performance 35 years later in the same location. [Former BAVC Media Preservation Director] Moriah Ulinskas knew that I had many other old and deteriorating videotapes documenting my early performance work, so months or even a year later she called and informed me of the Preservation Access Program. She told me that grant funding was being made available to artists seeking to preserve and archive their video works. I applied, was accepted, and thus I began the process of saving my archive. BAVC Media;s team proved easy to work with, delivered great results, and took good care of my ancient tapes. The preservation files are now stored for safe keeping and have been uploaded to my website, sapienfinearts.com, where the world may now watch them. Coincidentally, during that time I’ve made a return to performance art…that’s right, sixty-five years old and still working without a net! BAVC Media is so great because you get to meet and work with wonderfully skilled people who really care, and you will learn a lot.

 

Selected projects

Split-man Bisects the Pacific (1974). A performance art event at the ruins of the Sutra Baths in San Francisco, CA.

 

Pixellage (1983). Performed with the San Francisco Ballet at the San Francisco Opera House, San Francisco, CA.

 

Synthetic Ritual (1971). A performance art event at the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA.

 

Crime in the Streets (1978). A performance art event at Adler Alley, San Francisco, CA.

 

Within the Nucleus (1976). A performance art event at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA.