There is a fashion in publicity hype to describe work as 'from the dark side', or 'underbelly of the psyche'. It is only when we come across work such as Alan SondheimØs that we can justly use such a description.

In most of Sondheim's videos he is writer, camera person, voice over, actor, subject and composer, The pieces are a mixture of emotional, paranoid concerns emanating from the body and feelings about living in and around large cities, Toward the end of the compilation, these concerns merge and we see Sondheim's personal use of technology, set against a backdrop of centralised communications which metaphysically invade living spaces. The work Sondheim produced at the Experimental Television Center in New York allows us to see video in the hands of someone quite different.

The program suffered from problems that occur regularly with this type of screening. When viewers are presented with material of a confronting and personal nature, they become engaged and eager to offer opinion. Tape which begins with contentious and direct image encourages superficial reactions and these initial feelings are then exasperated as the viewer is inadvertently made to sit until the next piece or until he/she gets up and leaves. Those who were patient were rewarded with many competent sections throughout the tape.

In the initial sections of the tape, Sondheim's camera is turned in on himself. Sondheim views and contemplates parts of his body which are difficult, if not impossible to view without the aid of a self examination device. Sondheim says in his program notes, ¹I have examined myself more than I have examined anyone else, I have examined myself more than anyone else has examined me. I have examined myself more than anyone else has examined himself/herself". These words sound like those of a narcissistic intellectual. Sondheim is not lulled into complacency when investigating his self. He has no desire to escape through the use of this technology, but rather uses it to probe and investigate his self and his relationship to the changing urban environment.

© Andrew Whelan