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7th International Media Art Biennale WRO 99 Power of Tape
1999, April 28th – May 2nd
The theme of the last twentieth century WRO was the tape – film, audio, and videotape – and the role it played in the artistic Avant-garde of the century. It was a certain tribute to this medium during the early stages of the digital revolution and transformations which would soon make it obsolete as an artistic medium in the XXI century. The programme had included among others, a comprehensive review of Nam June Paik’s works, a complete retrospective of Warsztat Formy Filmowej, an extensive programme of Kino Absolutne, and found footage and experimental video. A separate programme, the 3 women, included works of VALIE EXPORT, Carolee Schneemann, and Natalia LL, the leading representatives of the feminist art movement.
The most significant events were the performance by Tomasz Stanko and Pociag Towarowy (Knittel/Choloniewski/Bikont) as an accompaniment to Murnau’s Faust; and the compositions by Jaroslaw Kapuscinski for the films by Oscar Fischinger and other abstract filmmakers.
The opening in the Swiebodzki train station, prepared in cooperation with STEIM (STudio for Electro Instrumental Music) – a well-known electroacoustic music centre located in Amsterdam – had been the first event in WRO’s history to have been broadcasted via the Internet.
A 200-page catalogue had been published during the WRO 99, quickly becoming a sought-after publication thanks to its unique materials and articles. The essays by Erkkieg Huhtamo and Piotr Krajewski included in the catalogue have been repeatedly reprinted in Japan and the US over the following years.
WRO 99 original website
COMPETITION & AWARDS
COMPETITION
69 works selected from 811 submissions were presented
JURY
Joseph Backstein (RU)
Nina Czegledy (CA)
Ermeline Le Mezo (FR)
Piotr Wyrzykowski (PL)
1st PRIZE
I live you, Yonatan Vinitski (IL, 1998)
2nd PRIZE
Potopia, Andrzej K. Urbański (PL, 1998/99)
3rd PRIZE (ex aequo)
Couple, Hanspeter Ammann (CH, 1998)
Stand by your man, Stefan St-Laurent (CA, 1998)