"Topless Cellist" Charlotte Moorman

1995, 29 min, color, sound

Nam June Paik's first single-channel videotape since 1989 is a heartfelt tribute to his long-time collaborator Charlotte Moorman. This portrait traces Moorman's career as an avant-garde performer, from her classical training to her notorious arrest as the "Topless Cellist" and subsequent talk-show celebrity. Rare documentations of Moorman's performances include Otto Piene's Sky Kiss and Jim McWilliams' Chocolate Cello. Interviews with Moorman's friends, family and collaborators, such as Yoko Ono, Christo and Jeanne Claude, Otto Piene, and Barbara Moore, among others, provide intimate recollections of the inimitable Moorman.

Editor: Janice E. Young. Coordination/Music Producer: Stephen Vitiello. Researcher: Maria Rosa Fort Brescia. Interview Camera: Howard Weinberg, New York; Sandra Robert, Little Rock; Vin Grabill, Boston; Your Media Image, San Diego. Archival Video: Nam June Paik, Electronic Arts Intermix, Vin Grabill, Jud Yalkut, Otto Piene, Larry Miller, Paul Garrin, Andrew Gurian. Archival Photographs: Peter Moore, Charlotte Moorman Archive, Andrew Gurian & Barbara Moore, Fred W. McDarran, Otto Piene, Andor Orand, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, NYC Dept. of Sanitation, Rene Bloch, Francescho Conz, Thomas Haar, Tamara Hendershot, Takenisa Kosugi, Mira Cantor, Elizabeth Goldring. On Line Editor: Mitch Brody. Still Animation: Angelique Thermes, Yvetot Gouin. Videotape Transfers: Elina Shvachkin, Sima Malah. Production Assistance: Electronic Arts Intermix, Arthur White, Center for Advanced Visual Studies, M.I.T.

 
 

PLEASE NOTE: Allow extra lead-in time if you are planning a public screening or exhibition of Nam June Paik's single screen video works. All such orders must be forwarded by EAI to the Paik Studio for their agreement before any event can be confirmed.

 
 

See also

 
 
1967, 5:10 min, color and b&w, silent