In the early eighties we were greatly influenced by audio cut-up, Burroughs, Gysin, Orchid Spangiafora, and so on. this interest extended into video cut-up when domestic VCRs became cheap enough to rent - before that we had been using B&W reel-to-reel (J format) video and super-8 film. Later this style of video cut-up came to be known as scratch video. We saw this activity of fast pause-button editing done at home on domestic VCRs, at first, as a different way of consuming television - consuming it actively instead of passively - but gradually we began to realize its effectiveness for getting political ideas across in a humorous and entertaining way. After several years of making scratch video we have accumulated thousands of hours of condensed television, everything from cartoons, B grade films, industrial jeopardy, and religious programs, to news coverage and political documentaries. At a party much of this material goes into the mix, along with footage shot by us or by friends, computer graphics, live analog and digital video synthesis, and live camera feeds of the event itself.
Subvertigo attempts to subvert the cultural (capitalist) foundations of youth culture - to a certain extent the non-commercial underground rave subculture, in which we work, already does this - but we want to push it further and a bit harder. However, this should give no reason for a promoter to fear us - even the most commercial promoter. We are not out to attack any particular individual, DJ, or group in the rave scene. We are not interested in scene politics. We are interested in bringing ideas into rave culture, giving parties a bit of content, and enriching the experience of the raver in general. When ideas come to be seen as dangerous we have McCarthyism or Fascism. This is precisely what we are fighting against.
Subvertigo works very closely with Non Bossy Posse. There is an anti-Olympic track on the NBP's Saboteurs of the Big Daddy Mind Fuck, and Subvertigo made a video clip for it to go with NBP's live performances. We would also bring it into the mix at parties. Then, like a gift from heaven, Southend released a commercial techno track with an Olympic theme. We could then mix in the anti-Olympic clip whenever the DJ played the Southend track. When at the Big Day Out 94 we found ourselves on the same bill as Southend we naturally played the clip behind there performance of "Sydney". When they found out what we had done they were plenty pissed off. But I think they misunderstood our intentions. It was not some kind of conspiracy against them. They took it personally, which is a very immature attitude for anyone in the public eye. They have to realize that they must take on the responsibility for the political implications of their work. Our actions, I think, have forced them to realize this.
Although much of the material we present is "original," there is of course a certain amount which is appropriated from broadcast television. We would find it inconceivable to dispense with the utilization of this type of material, not because of some lack in our own resources, but because this material brings with it a whole load of connotations, allusions. and cultural references, in other words, whether we like it or not, it is the basic dialogue of our society. This makes it an extremely powerful raw material to work with. On the one hand we can submit it to a radical re-arrangement which brings its author(ity) into question. On the other hand, there is the social aspect of quoting images. I find the projection of abstract computer graphics for hours on end a bit alienating, but by cutting in snippets of popular TV trash culture, a common language is instituted. An exchange of ideas and sight gags which many young people can relate to takes place - like fluffy dancing number 8s from Sesame Street or amphetamine breakbeat kung fu fighters. Instead of opening up the rave scene to the mainstream, the mainstream is brought into the rave, twisted and mutated to the psychotronic rhythm of techno.
Cut-up brings with it a certain set of ethics and these same ethics apply to sampling. While we advocate appropriation there are certain limits. to take the images of a relatively unknown video artist, or even images from the art-house cinema, and pass them off as your own amounts to just plain theft. Appropriated images should be from the mainstream, commercial TV, industrial film-making, ads, etc. They should be authoritive voices.. and the trashier the better.
The heart of Subvertigo is a modified mx-10 video mixer. We sometimes use up to three of these cascaded together and fed back into each other to produce a pulsating shifting organic electro brain which is never completely within our control. Sources fed into the mix include several VCR's, CVI, computer graphics, oscilloscope, dedicated feedback cameras, and roving cameras picking up action on the dance floor. This all goes through a range of processing equipment before it hits the projectors. Subvertigo is like a band, the cameras, VCRs and computers are the instruments, the processing units are the fx pedals, the mx-10s are the mixer and the projector is the PA. But instead of playing its own tune, Subvertigo interacts with the music provided by the DJ. When we first started doing parties we were considered to be quite unique. Most VJs would turn up to a gig with a couple of tapes and perhaps their own VCR - and we would come along with a truckload of equipment. But now there are several video crews with quite substantial rigs.