Primetime Wisconsin; 420

Oh. Presentation of prime time Wisconsin is made possible in part by the security insurance companies Appleton providing a broad range of services property casualty and life insurance products mutual funds and other related financial services. By going to prime time Wisconsin the Arts and Entertainment Magazine presented by public television stations of Wisconsin. Group. On tonight's program we relive the past lives and times of the plains Indians. Experience the video vision of a world where every day things take a

strange turn. Finally delicate wildlife artist brought to life by artist Dorothy hug said. Those stories and more on tonight's program. And now here's your host Deborah Mims. Hello and welcome. Images of the past images of fantasy and the animals shape up prime time program this evening. We begin our first story through the lens of a camera. Photography is our window to the past and during the Indian wars of the western plains in the late 1800s a Wisconsin photographer was on the scene to catch many of the participants on film. David Francis Berry was an Bismarck's out the color at the time of the Little Big Horn battle and with his camera he captured the spirit of the Sioux Indians who fought. They later surrendered to the US government and were sent to live the rest of their lives on the reservations. Barry's timeless pictures reflect the nobility and pride of the Sioux people. The music performance in the story is by Frank Montoya. Gong.

Sitting Bull. They were subjects for the camera of David Francis fearing. The celebrated photographer of famous Indians. As the Indian wars of the western plains came to an end. David beery gave the world a view of the participants on both sides. Barry was raised in the US to go in Columbus Wisconsin during the 1850s in 68 in 1870 before he traveled to Bismarck in the Dakota territories to take a job as an assistant to photographer Orlando GA. He quickly be friended many of the Plains Indians for reciting in the region. They were good people. They are more of the land in Bury started even before the Battle of Little Bighorn be friending the nation. He understands the problem. And in a sense he was a naive Midwesterner that treated these individuals as humans. One on One. When Barry arrived in Bismarck the Indian wars were building to a climax.

On June 25th 1876. General George Custer in his command found the Summer Gathering of the Sioux Nation and attempt here on the Little Bighorn river Custer in most of his men met their deaths in the battle against the Indians who were led by Sitting Bull rein in the face and gone. When word arrived back east of Custer's unbelievable defeat the newspapers called on one man David Berry Berry was the only source of imagery. For the east coast of wana do know what happened. They had no images whatsoever of the chiefs involved in the battle. They had no in new images of Custer in the family. Having known the participants both the Sioux. And the cavalry. Very well I have a feeling it was very difficult for me as a photographer and a business man. Yes he photographed the survivors immediately. This Sue eluded capture for several years but as they gradually surrendered

Barry took his transportable studio to the reservations and made a series of portraits because of his friendship with the Chiefs. He was able to take formal studio. The Indians needed convincing because they believed a photo would steal part of their soul. Well Barry. Realized this after his first court for the cheese ball. Which we have in our collection. Because ball and ball return later. To destroy the camera destroy the plate. And in a sense smack David Barry over the head with a with a war club. And at this point. David Berry. Held. Back. And I believe he put his wife Patty in front of the camera without a plate in the camera. And had all passed his hand on the lens in the film back. When Gol saw that it was a shadow of an image. Barry's photos portrayed the nobility of the plains Indians. He looked upon them as people of character and the chiefs as military

professionals no different from Custer and his fellow cavalry officers. When these photographs appeared on the East Coast. They inspired on in a sense respect. And terror because the for the first time. The American. Population saw that they were just a bunch of wild crazy half naked savages that these individuals that were fighting the planes wars these Native Americans. Were magnificent human beings powerful leaders in their own right. Barry became famous as his photo spread across the country. But Time Fades memories as it does photos. And within a few years the battle of the Little Bighorn and the romance of the Indian Wars was out of vogue. At this point Barry and his wife Patty moved back to Wisconsin to the exciting boom town of Superior. He set up shop basing much of his business on his past association with the Indian wars. But after a few years Barry decided to cash

in on a bit of his former celebrity status and travel to the bright lights of New York City. There he met the likes of Pawnee bill and Buffalo Bill the Great Western Shulman of the time William Cody Buffalo Bill Connie bill. With really no experience. In the front here. And they began to rely on. Both the Sioux and DIA Berry to provide authentication for the battles for the mock shows and carnivals. That they were travelling through the United States. Within a few years his notoriety once again faded in a celebrated photographer of famous Indians moved back to Superior where he lived the rest of his life. The Barry photos take one back to a time when much of the country thought of the Indians as bloodthirsty savages. His photos show the SU in a more realistic light honest noble. And proud. Perhaps these faces of the past can help us understand

the people of the present. In the past decade video have Spassky popularity and acceptance as a legitimate art form. One of this country's leading video artists lives right here in Wisconsin. Her name is sincere your conduct. She has won numerous awards both in the U.S. and Europe for her videos and they have a very distinctive style and usually in this program we show works of art in their entirety. But time constraints limit us to show only short clips of her videos. And you should know sometimes the images are disturbing in order to make a point. Well I like the macabre and I think I like it because my world is so straight towards me right towards me.

So still you can do to shooting a video not a music video or a home video. So Celia Candide is a video artist much like a film writer producer and director all rolled into one. But instead of film she uses videotape. Video is just a wonderful medium and part of it. I think it's very unpretentious in that you can see what you see right away. And it's and it's sort of small and intimate where most people watch it. They say don't keep doing it. Condit's videos aren't frivolous. They make social statement. Her past works including this video called possibly in Michigan have brought her international acclaim. Meet the strangers. Possibly Michigan is a story of stereotypes. The girls are stereotypes you know they're there. There was beautiful. And her counterpart if not beautiful at least is. Beauty and innocence are two of the lures Condit uses to catch viewers attention what she

calls charming music is another. I think music in many ways is something for a video because the screen is often so small that it hooks people. And if I can get the music charming enough it's sort of like hard to walk into the other room with it's on. Then once the hook is set the darker side begins to surface. When I describe possibly describe a piece about cannibalism in middle America. And. That I think. Of. This business. And the violence and how people can really be consumed by other people. By Condit's own admission her videos are bizarre but the inspiration is always rooted in reality. Reality looks bizarre enough to me on certain levels and that that I don't feel like I have to deal with fantasy to be bizarre that disturbing

aspects of our society. True in the video currently working on arms in. Like if you know that person and in her award winning piece simply put this story is about fear of aging. Despite the almost nursery rhyme quality of the music there's nothing simplistic about the video's message. When I talk to not a jealous bone I say I say crimes here and there murders everywhere life's a strange take. That was sort of sums up my philosophy. I mean not that things are horrendous and enormous anger but they are at the same time.

You know life is a strange affair. Well Condit is a video artist she also likes to use film images shot on film are interwoven throughout her pieces. Like video enormously but I must say that if I just use straight video I thought I can't get the layers. Something about using film in video like the Super 8 that I use it gives me a certain distance and it gives the viewer a certain distance so that I can go back and forth between a kind of reality. So I'm not sure about this but I mean if I could just get a good angle on this this might be interesting. It will probably be a year before this video is finished. That's partly because the script keeps changing. Every time I shoot something that changes the hints higher. Like my God. It becomes part of what sort of like there's just no choice in

having having to adjust one's vision. Most of the funding for candidates videos comes from awards and grants her extensive resume includes grants from the American Film Institute and two from the National Endowment for the Arts. Despite that prestigious candidates still can't devote 100 percent of her time to her art being a video artist is not profitable in that you can't live off the work you make. I can't live off of work so she makes a living as an associate professor at UW Milwaukee teaching the art of film and video and the realities like the high cost of video equipment. I think that the financial aspect of video limited is an art form. Condit's videos have been exhibited throughout Europe in the US including a recent exhibit at the Madison Art Center. A problem with video art is that museum goers can't

just browse past it. Time must be scheduled to see a tape from beginning to end. The art Center's curator of education Katherine Howe worth Ryan says time is the biggest obstacle video art must overcome. People are used to TV obviously but TV has commercial breaks and so you know they're not used to devoting that much time to something. But acceptance is spreading and video art is already in the permanent collections of many major museums. I think that as our world changes so does our perception of our cultural products and we are a more electronic technological age so video art really is is here to stay and it's also something that I think that people will have a greater affinity to. Condit's videos are critically acclaimed but they're meant for all viewers not just our critics. The plotlines and ideas aren't always as simple to follow as say a typical TV show or mainstream film. The idea is to get people to

think that's what Condit wants from her past and future work. I know. I hope to hear a wider audience every piece and I should and I and I hope to get closer to some sort of essence of myself. In each piece I work it's just as though I well know I can dig deeper into that well. And first of all you can do the tool to dig with is video or video and my world is very easy to see. And so it integrates itself thoroughly unpretentiously throughout. The hog's there is a wild ride proudest moment where who creates images on a wooden scratched board she has taken what some people think of as a craft and they found it on her own terms. Her fascination with minute detail is just a small indication of the enthusiasm of Dodi's work. She feels that wildlife art can be understood and

appreciated by all and most importantly though the hawks that want her work to reflect her love respect and awe of nature. Hierarchy is derived from the Greek word by rule meaning fire and graphene meaning writing and I prefer to call it prayer rug or field. When you say the word wood burning people think of the the type who would bring that boy scouts did or the craft burning and I feel that. The type of burning that I do. Being an art form should be called prayer rather feed stead of wood burning. Dodie hogsheads Pyra graphic vignettes seared into select crosscut sections of basswood most often depict idealized glimpses of nature. Frozen moments in her mind's eye that reflect a

deep appreciation for wildlife and its natural surroundings. I guess I I do consider myself strictly a wildlife artist and. Those are the sub subjects that I choose to do. I could probably venture off into a landscape or some other type of artwork since I've always done. Different types of artwork but I prefer the wildlife because I know what better. Background to do wildlife art on than wood and I just think it's really a good. Good medium. When I look for a piece of wood I go through stacks and stacks of it to find something that has a knot hole in a certain area more to the outside of the wood that I can fit it. Also a subject next to that I'd like to look at the knot holes in Krotz and. Put the board in all different positions and this helps me kind of visualize I can use my imagination to figure out what I can

make with that knot hole. And they really help me have a little more. Fluidity to the picture. Over the years Dodi has developed her own personal pirate graphic techniques using the simplest of tools. Paired with considerable patients and meticulous effort. She achieves a subtle tonality and convincing realism. The tool that I use. Is 21 watt wood burner which is about six hundred fifty degrees in this. Instead of getting myself. One of the elaborate ones with a thermostat and everything I work with this beginner's pan. And it helps me to get a more deeper value with the burning because I keep going over and over instead of burning it all at one time I do like washes of burning. And that builds up the car and it gets more intense and I think that is what sets my work apart from other people's. It's the. The

contrast that I get with the bass would be. Another trademark of Dodie hogsheads work is her exacting attention to the finest detail with unerring precision she embellishes her subjects with minute markings that imitate those actually found in nature. I've just always. Seen things different than a lot of people. I always see the details. I don't know why it's just the way I am. I. I just like everything. Just so you know and I guess that's why I like detail work too. Her love of intricacy has motivated Dodie to explore another medium demanding even more precision than pirate graffiti. It's known as scratch board. Scratch board is a poster board with a layer of French Charke. And then black ink. Over that. And you have to take a sharp stylus like an Exacto knife and

scratch each little lying in. And when you scratch the black surface which is the ink it produces the weight Charkha underneath. It's very relaxing because it takes a lot of hours and I really have to focus and concentrate with both the woodburning and the board etching. They're very demanding media because once you make a mistake that's it. You have to go very slowly and that's how I usually like to do things as they go real slow and steady because of the details. And that's just how I work. Dodi's patience and persistence have produced a growing collection of scratch board etchings extending her nature and wildlife motifs into a largely unexplored medium. The introduction of color has opened new possibilities for her to investigate. And has created an entirely new dimension in her work.

Dodi plans to further pursue her etchings in color and black and white while continuing to develop her Pyra graphic art. Regardless of the medium. Dodi hogsheads work will no doubt continue to reflect a fascination with the minute detail and an affection and admiration for nature and the out-of-doors. We welcomed the beginning of spring last week and I'm sure we're all looking forward to the warm weather.

But because this is Wisconsin without one last look at winter was due. And so we close our program tonight with a look at a winter sport that's sure to start a hot trend. Snowboarding for all of our primetime crews. I'm Deborah Mims. Good night. Thank. You. The morning's original itself can be compared to a lot of things it involves the grace of

surfing or maybe even figure skating it involves Apollo snowmobiling it involves the carving sensation of surfing a skate boarding the freestyle indoors and skateboarding is just it's a great farms great thing to do. Yes and so the sport of snowboarding to us is this go and have fun because that's when we started doing it we started ourselves about five or six years ago before we even had a store and we just made our own snowboards and just enjoyed going down in the back hills and we could find. They seemed to. Love going up there and. Bashing the bumps on White Water which to me is amazing because 90 percent of our skiers here. Can't ski down white water. But these guys are just out there ripping it up having a great time it's fun to watch. About five years before I started snowboarding You know I was a lot of fun. Pick up the snowboard and upright or a bit of a purse. And you were never called me on a ski honk skis before I've gone once and

there was ok about the slow ones just it's just completely different. Just holding the carving on the Hill not knowing whether you're going to die or hold on a little. Presentation of prime time Wisconsin is made possible in part by the security

insurance companies Appleton providing a broad range of services property casualty and life insurance products mutual funds and other related financial services.