San Francisco is a city where the virtual and the real co-exist. It is both a center of multi-media and Internet activity, and a city with a vibrant street life and commitment to public space. Awakening From the 20th Century explores these issues by asking the questions: Is life becoming virtual? Are we witnessing the end of the city? Will the computer replace the automobile?
This title is also available on Chip Lord Videoworks: Volume 2.
Chip Lord has worked with video since 1971, first as a partner in the alternative media collective Ant Farm, and since 1978 as an independent artist/producer. With Ant Farm, he produced and co-directed the video art classics Media Burn and The Eternal Frame. His early work draws on documentary conventions, but during the '80s he moved toward experimental narrative with Easy Living, Ballplayer, and his first feature-length tape, Motorist. His more recent works return to non-fiction with the video essay The Aroma of Enchantment (1992), and Awakening from the 20th Century (1999). He produces video installations as well as single-channel tapes, and he is a Professor in the Department of Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz.