Video Ocean:
Screening + Panel Talk
feat. Courtney Rile, DJ Hellerman, and Tara Merenda Nelson
Part of Source Material: An Evening of Archival Explorations at Light Work
Friday, July 25 | 5-8 p.m.
Light Work (Watson Theater)
316 Waverly Ave.
Video Ocean screening starts at 7 p.m.
Source Material: An Evening of Archival Explorations at Light Work
Friday, July 25, 2025 | 5:00–8:30 p.m.
Light Work | 316 Waverly Ave. | Syracuse, NY 13210
Video Ocean screening starts at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium
As part of an evening celebrating the exhibition The Archive as Liberation at Light Work, Courtney Rile will premiere her documentary Video Ocean, exploring the rich history of video art in Central New York. This screening takes place in Watson Auditorium, across from Light Work’s galleries, and will be followed by a panel discussion about the regional history of experimental media art and its preservation between Rile, curator DJ Hellerman (MoCA Cleveland, formerly at the Everson Museum), and media programmer and archivist Tara Merenda Nelson (Visual Studies Workshop).
This event is FREE & OPEN to the public.
This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition Courtney Rile: In Conversation at UVP’s architectural projection site on the Everson Museum of Art facade from June 26 – August 30, 2025.
Program Notes
Video Ocean
dir. Courtney Rile
2025
Duration: 60 min.
Video Ocean is a video essay by artist and SU VPA alum Courtney Rile about the origin story of the cultural microclimate of video art in Syracuse, NY in the 1970s. Through interviews with artists, curators, and journalists, along with archival documentation and excerpts of works of video art, Video Ocean explores the inception of video art as a medium, the creation of Synapse at Syracuse University, the establishment of a degree program dedicated to art video at Syracuse University, and the hiring of the world’s first Curator of Video Art at the Everson Museum. Video Ocean establishes Syracuse as a center for innovation and explores the question of where video art stands today in a moment where video is ubiquitous and AI is propelling us into the next iteration of the moving image. This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts.
Accessibility
Light Work is wheelchair accessible.
To make additional accommodation requests or ask questions about facilities, please contact info@urbanvideoproject.com or 315-443-2450.
Sponsors
All Light Work programs are made possible through support from the County of Onondaga, with the support of County Executive Ryan McMahon and the Onondaga County Legislature, administered by CNY Arts and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Related Exhibition
Courtney Rile: In Conversation
June 26-August 30, 2025
Th. – Sat. | dusk – 11pm
Everson Museum Plaza
