Michael Goldberg
©Michael Goldberg
Michael Goldberg
Michael Goldberg (b. 1945, Canada) was a pioneer of video and an instrumental figure in nurturing its early days in Vancouver and Japan. Friendly with Fujiko Nakaya through the organization E.A.T. (Experiments in Art & Technology), he first came to Japan in 1971 on a grant from the Canada Council, and in 1972 along with Nakaya and Katsuhiro Yamaguchi organized Japan's first video art exhibition. Held at the Sony building in Ginza, Tokyo, the exhibit-cum-workshop was entitled Video Communication: Do It Yourself Kit, and would become the catalyst for the formation of the video collective Video Hiroba. Goldberg also taught as a guest lecturer at Tsukuba University in 1980. Today he remains active as a producer and director of documentaries and other video forms through his company International Videoworks, Inc.
Projects initiated and (co)organised (short list)
Communications Environment │1970 │ multi-media & video conference system for the annual convention of la Société franco-manitobaine in Winnipeg
Tech plan
The Video Exchange Directory │1971~1979 │ seven editions
Annual listing to facilitate videotape exchanges between non-commercial video groups, artists and activists
VIDEO COMMUNICATION - Do It Yourself Kit │1972
Japan's first video art exhibition, Sony Building, Ginza
MATRIX Video Gathering │Vancouver, Jan. 17~21,1973
160 video artists and activists attended from across Canada, the US, Europe and Japan
Photographers - Murray Skuce, Kazumi Tanaka
The Satellite Video Exchange Society (Video Inn, now called VIVO) │1973 ~ present
Ten attendees to MATRIX founded this video library & media resource centre in Vancouver, Canada
Photos by Keigo Yamamoto, Shawn Preus
Video works
Intermedia Sampler │1970 │ 30 min. B&W
Excerpts of Vancouver artists’ early videos
Terminal City Dance - at Work │1981 │ 50 min. col. documentary
Vancouver contemporary dance group
Photographer - Paul Wong (contact sheet)
Michael Goldberg filming Karen Jamieson, Terry Hunter & Savanna Walling
L. photo by Paul Wong
TERMINAL CITY DANCE - at Work
Karen Jamieson performance
video by Michael Goldberg / lighting director Paul Wong
Fast Foods' Tokyo │1983 │ 11 min. col. report
Filmed & edited on 3/4” U-matic video
Customs & Manners - the Fabric of Japanese Society │1990 │ 29 min. documentary
VHS cover
遥かなる波の音 (stories of pre-war foreign wives of Japanese) │1996 │ 88 min. documentary
Interviewees selection
Living in Japan │1997 │ 91 min. documentary
VHS cover
A ZEN LIFE - D.T. Suzuki │2006 │87 min. documentary
DVD cover
Opening title
Citizen Science on the Ground - Safecast Radiation Monitoring │© NHK World 2015 │ 28 min. documentary
Selected images
A Grain of Truth - Rice & the Japanese Psyche │ © Nitto Tire 2016 │ 29 min. documentary
Selected images
Tokyo's Homeless - in the Shadows of the Olympics │ © NHK World 2018 │ 28 min. documentary
Selected images
身体拘束のない国へ (Treatment, or Mistreatment - Mental Health Care in Japan & New Zealand) │ © NHK 2019 │29 min. documentary
Selected images - Japanese on-air and rough English versions
Installations
Tragédie et comédie - Mask Technique │ 1969 │ Boutique Soleil, Montreal
Vacuum-formed multiples, closed-circuit video, endless film loop of mime Paul Buissonneau smiling & frowning
Room on its Side │ 1970 │ Vancouver Art Gallery
Blue Reality │ installation │1975 │ Hara Museum, Tokyo
Blue Reality, 1975 (chroma key & video delay)
Selected Writing
Video Guide │ technical articles and exhibition critiques │ Video Inn (now VIVO), Canada
The Accessible Portapack Manual │ 140 pages book │ 1976
La Vidéographie à la portée de tous │en français, 211 pages │ Vidéo Femmes 1977
ビデオコム (Video Com magazine) │ monthly video art criticism (in Japanese) │ nine years
ビデオ ジヤーナル (Video Journal newspaper) │ monthly 日本ビデオ日記 (in Japanese) │ six years
マイケルさんの VIDEO IN & OUT │ video technology & techniques (in Japanese), 381 pages │ © 1989 ダゲレオ出版
Éclectiques │ le journal de FFJ (Freelance France Japon) │ huit reportages en français 2010 ~ 2021
