human television network: street media
After 911 information was tightly manipulated and a culture of self-censorship constricted the news environment. The Human Television Network attempted to poked a hole through the curtain.
The HTN news pilot…
Coverage of the lead up to the Iraq War was so terrible that major news networks were reporting propaganda that could be easily refuted by anyone with a computer and an ability to source information. HTN created a sample to demonstrate the difference in quality between unfunded-but-honest-reporting and lavishly-funded-but-dishonest-reporting.
The pilot was created by Fred Hickler with Amy Cargil and Grace Bouchard, copy by Sharon Lanza and Ryan Scholchenberger, anchor Ryan Solchenberger, theme Music by Craig White, additional production Cynthia Main, Janet Hotch, Kathleen O’Neill, Phil Solomonson, Rob Roy, and Dave Stanton
Members of the team went on to create several more episodes for Chicago Indymedia.
the loofah method: performance collective
“There’s a wonderful moment in “Looking For A Soft Place To Land,” an hourlong imaginary flight, in which tiny stereopticon toys tumble down like oxygen masks in an emergency. As the startled audience reaches for these miniature viewmasters, nothing can be heard but their delighted murmurs.
As if to prove magic can be multidisciplinary, The Loofah Method – performance poet Cin Salach, composer/saxophonist Mark Messing and video artist Kurt Heintz – have made themselves wizards of techno-theater, able to combine computers, cameras, VCRs and their fervid imaginations in ways that leave our ordinary “media-crity” far behind.” – Larry Bommer, Chicago Tribune 2/4/93