Scratch Video a mutant hybrid of scratch DJ music and guerrilla TV

scratchvideo/evolution/video/vcr

Turntables gave their owners the choice to put on whatever music had been recorded onto vinyl disks, and audio recorders let people manipulate sounds. But images on television screens were always just sort of there -- the only choice people had was to turn it on or off, or switch between channels.

When Philips released the first consumer Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) in 1972, the public gained more control over television. Four out of five homes in the United States now own VCRs (Straubhaar and LaRose 220). VCR technology allowed people to make TV conform to their schedule, to watch only what they wanted and skip through the rest. A favorite program could be watched more than once, or carried over to a friend's house. Renting videos let owners of VCRs choose what to watch, instead of just reading about what was coming up next in their TV guide. Learning how to use a VCR changed how people interacted with television: it became theirs to capture and even manipulate.

By the 1990s, there was an overabundance of both TV programming and VCRs in people's homes. A subculture evolved of late night viewers who record and collect the most bizarre shows they find. Using magazines and web sites, they trade tapes with each other, giving local "bad TV" an international distribution network known in one case as Carnage TV. (McInnes 45-46). These people are watching TV looking for the cherry on top and throwing the rest away, using their VCRs to record video samples rather than entire programs.

Taping and collecting random television content was how the Emergency Broadcast Network got their start. Two of the earliest practitioners and promoters of scratch video, Josh Pearson and Gardner Post would eventually add a techno soundtrack to their TV samples. EBN are firm believers in using their VCRs to gather source material without worrying about copyright restrictions. Pearson says, "I do pay for cable TV; it's not free for me. I pay for the VCR I tape it with and the tapes. I believe that once it enters my home I can use it." (Tanner n.p.)

Copyright 2000© Hart Snider