Artist Peer Bode’s experimental video works from the 1970s and 1980s are currently on display at the Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) in the exhibition "Signal into Memory." The show features twelve screens and two digital prints, showcasing Bode’s "Process Tapes" created during his time at the Experimental Television Center (ETC). The works utilize analog technology, such as Portapak cameras and cathode ray tube televisions, to explore the nature of video signals, temporal dissonance, and the physical process of image-making.
This exhibition is significant for its preservation and presentation of early video art history, featuring several tapes that were only recently digitized after 50 years. By highlighting Bode’s radical, non-narrative approach to the medium, the show connects contemporary digital glitch aesthetics to their analog ancestors. It also pays homage to the legacy of the Experimental Television Center and the influence of Bode’s father, electronic music pioneer Harald Bode, on the development of early media synthesis and signal manipulation.