John Sanborn (PDF)

John Sanborn became one of the most prominent protagonists of the American video art scene in the 1970s and 1980s. His work ranges from the beginnings of experimental video art to MTV music videos, interactive art, and digital media art. Consulting with Apple and Adobe, he contributed to shaping the possibilities of new image tools and was instrumental to the dawning of the digital image revolution in California. This monograph brings together a collection of works that spans over four decades of exploring sound, music, cultural identity, memory, mythologies, and the human compulsion to tell stories. Essays by video art experts, contributions by his friends and companions, and a conversation between Sanborn and acclaimed media artist Dara Birnbaum explore the tension between mass media and contemporary art. Sanborn himself traces the unique arc of his career and talks about a journey that took him from museums and alternative spaces to television networks, Hollywood and Silicon Valley before returning to the art world. Few other artists working with media can claim to have delved into so many visual territories.
JOHN SANBORN (*1954, Huntington, New York) is a key member of the second wave of American video artists. His body of work spans the early days of experimental video art in the 1970s through the heyday of MTV music/videos and interactive art to the digital media art of today. His work has been exhibited on television, as video installations, video games, Internet experiences and in live performances such as God in 3 Persons, a collaboration with The Residents, at MoMA in New York (2020). Sanborn lives and works in Berkeley, California.