Curator: Andrej Pezelj
Production: SCCA-Ljubljana, 2013
Duration: 53′ 42″

The history is always divided by centuries and decades. This time frame serves it as the orientation points. But we often tend to forget that the eighties of the twentieth century would have been considered entirely different without the introduction of Gregorian calendar. How can we then speak about the video art production in the 80s?

After all, we are used to recognize a sort of essential characteristic of the decade in every video we may see. But the question arises, is it at all possible for a particular decade to bare some sort of common characteristics, or we are perhaps facing only a simplified generalization of historic view.

What are video works from the 80s then like? To this question we do not want to place an answer, but rather attempt to demystify the idea about specific aesthetic of the decade. With this programme we would like to show as heteroclite video selection as possible in order to show that many videos from the 80s had dealt with the topics that are much similar to what we are dealing now. People were fighting against ecological challenges, facing housing dilemmas; they also found some time to think about fashion or about the production of beautiful video works.

The contemporary 80s do not exist; the future is the time that has classified these practices according to the suitable common denominators.

Neven Korda, Zemira Alajbegović (ZANK / Borghesia), The Wild Bunch, 5′ 40″
FV Video / ŠKD Forum, 1984

Polona Sepe, My Nightmarish Housing, 11′ 26″
ATV/Brut*, 1987

Janez Jordan, Alen Ožbolt (V.S.S.D.), She was what he had missed, 11′ 23″
Škuc – Forum, 1986

Damijan Bogataj, New Ecological Catastrophe, 12′ 49″
ATV/Brut*, 1987

Nada Vodušek, Ema Kugler, Jane Štravs, Nostalgic Cut, 7′ 56″
Marijan Osole – Max, CD/Brut*, 1985

Goran Devide, Enemy, 4′ 28″
Škuc-Forum, 1984

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*Video production was in focus at the first Slovene alternative television station ATV with its promotional programs. Unfortunately the station had never been fully operating and this program prepared in Brut Studio in 1987 was later dropped.