Perception

Launched as EAI's pilot program by Steina and Woody Vasulka, Eric Siegel, and Vince Novak in 1971, Perception was an ad-hoc artist's collective that explored the language and ecology of video as a form of art and communication. Conducting research and experiments in areas such as biofeedback and electronic image generation, Perception served as a "laboratory" for other important media art projects; its activities and participants were associated with The Kitchen, a new space for electronic art and music in New York. Woody Vasulka, a Czech "migr" and artist, was the director of the group, and Siegel, the young engineer and artist, was the Technical Director. Perception's activities, largely funded by the New York State Council on the Arts, took place in the artists' own studios and at The Kitchen. Initially conceived as an "electronic image workshop" with "a view towards integrating the medium into the overall ecology of information-exchange," the activities of Perception ultimately evolved from informal and exploratory meetings into more organized performances. Video works produced by its members, who included Juan Downey, Frank Gillette, Beryl Korot, Andy Mann, and Ira Schneider, were screened at small "show-and-tell" sessions and presented together in The Kitchen's Annual Video Festival on May 13, 1973.

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