Since 1973, Gary Hill has been working with the mediums of video and audio, using all the trappings of modern technology, including software, hardware and mechanical devices. A typical exhibition often includes multiple monitors and rear projection technology with screens as large as 25 feet, sound and an interactive environment that is designed to bring the viewer into the experience.

To say that he is a prolific artist is a vast understatement. His biography spans some 58 pages, comprising his Writings, Interviews and Monographs, Solo Exhibition Catalogues and Program Notes, Group Exhibition Catalogues and Brochures, Articles and Reviews, Laserdiscs, Videotapes and CD-ROM’s, Books and General References, etc.

I had an opportunity to speak with him at his studio in Seattle.

Nathan: Looking at all the material that’s been written about you, I was wondering how you decided to become a video artist?

Gary: “Well by happenstance, I lived in Woodstock, New York and I made sculpture at the time (and this is without going into the term ‘video artist’ or whether sculpture and video is any different). There was a place called Woodstock Community Video that used to be called the Peoples Video Theatre. They had moved up to Woodstock to create an interactive cable station in the town. I saw this place, knocked on the door, asked them what it was, and they showed me a portapack and I started to record things. I did some feedback with myself, multiple monitors and stuff. That was the beginning.”

“At the same time, I was getting interested in sound. I was making sound from the sculptures that I was making and also doing some very primitive electronic sounds with tape recorders and stuff. So that was some kind of bridge between the two.”

Nathan: When you got into sculpture, did you wind up going to an art school or did you find yourself in it in some other way?

Gary: “Well, when I was in my middle teens, a friend’s brother (Anthony Parks), created welded sculpture and I was very fascinated by it. I always had some sort of interest in art, drawing, etc., and he sat me down and showed me how to do it. I started working with it and enjoyed the process. Later, I bought my own welding tanks.”