MafíSHCO

Saxophone (1975)

video by Margaret Fisher and John Adams
Saxophone (1975). Fisher and Adams draw on their experiences as musicians in the high school marching band to create this test project with portable video equipment that was introduced in the mid-1970s.   Video below.       Other versions of Saxophone






Synopsis

A young saxophonist ends up on the streets of San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. The credits refer to this as autobiography, though the saxophonist was part persona and part myth of the androgynous woman. Fisher offered the myth to other artists to incorporate within their own work. The creators now relegate the video to the scrap heap of juvenalia.

Video clip

Salvaged excerpts from the video collaboration by John Adams and Margaret Fisher,
shot on location in San Francisco's Tenderloin District and at the Cat's Paw Palace
of the Performing Arts, Berkeley. Edited 2015. Source: MAFISHCO archives.

Credits

  • Script and Performance: Margret Fisher [sic]
  • Video and Montage: John Adams
  • Music: Oakland Citadel Salvation Army Band, Margaret Fisher
  • Original format:  reel-to-reel, black and white video
  • Year: 1975. TRT: 15 minutes
  • Genres: 1970s Video

Screenings

  • La Mamelle Art Center, San Francisco, CA November 5 & 6, 1976
  • Cat's Paw Palace, Berkeley CA March 4 & 5, 1977
  • Open Gallery, Eugene, OR April 14 & 15, 1978
  • Northwest Artists Workshop, Portland OR April 21, 1978
  • Western Front Gallery, Vancouver, Canada April 28, 1978