Produced in Liege for Belgium TV, this tape considers how broadcast television functions in a multi-lingual area. A televised Tower of Babble, Muntadas shows the rigid conformity of style and content enforced through the medium, drawing attention to the similiar format of the programs broadcast in different languages. Muntadas suggests that the universal language of television is a camouflaged steamroller of meaning and relationships that flattens out reality, creating a homogeneous “TV land"—a world-wide institution which is only superficially related to the individual realities of its viewers.
Liege 12.9.77
Antonio Muntadas
1977 00:19:50 United StatesEnglishColor4:3Description
Antoni Muntadas was born in Barcelona in 1942, and has lived in New York since 1971. His work addresses social, political and communications issues, and the relationship between public and private space within social frameworks, as well as channels of information and the ways they may be used to censor central information or promulgate ideas. He works on projects in different media such as photography, video, publications, Internet and multi-media installations. Since 1995, Muntadas has grouped together a set of works and projects titled On Translation emphasizing issues of interpretation, transcription and cultural translation. Their content, dimensions and materials are variable, and focus on the author’s personal experience and artistic activity in numerous countries over forty years.
Also see:
Antoni Muntadas: Video Portrait