Paulo Laurentiz, four
					frames from Untitled, 
					slow-scan TV transmission,
					1986.


________________________________________________________________



					In the pre-Internet days,
					artists worldwide created
					their own parallel networks
					employing low-cost
					telematic media. One such
					medium was slow-scan
					television, which enabled
					artists to send color
					video frames over regular
					telephone lines. Each video
					image was scanned from top
					to bottom, line by line.
					Each image would take from
					8 to 12 seconds to be
completed, depending on the amount of information contained in the
image. Brazilian artist Paulo Laurentiz (1953--1991) was a pioneer
of telecommunications art who explored multiple media, including
video, fax, slow-scan TV and videotext. A summary of his work
can be found in his book A Holarquia do Pensamento Artístico,
published by Editora da Unicamp, São Paulo, in 1991.

One key element of the aesthetic of slow-scan television was
the gradual formation of the image. In collaboration with other
artists, Laurentiz created the piece shown here, which explored
this feature in unique ways. As Laurentiz transmitted his images,
the artists in remote space saw on their screens oblique lines
that became longer as new frames came in. At the same time, a
horizontal white bar at the bottom of the screen became 
incrementally larger. This piece suggested natural processes
as the white oblique lines (evocative of rain) merged with the
white area at the bottom (evocative of the ocean), filling the
black screen with white.



				For more information, contact


				Silvia Laurentiz
				Rua Gabrielle D'Annúnzio, 518
				São Paulo, SP, 04619-001
				Brazil

				Tel./Fax: 55-11-241-2513









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