Visual Studies Workshop Inc

Visual Studies Workshop nurtures experimental and expansive approaches to photography and media arts, and builds community among artists and the public through exhibitions, publications and residencies.

Electronic Echoes: Video Art from the 1970s and 80sThursday, February 26, 7-9 pm$10, in-person&nbsp;When video became a commercially available medium in the 1970s, artists quickly began to explore it as a form for creative expression. For the first time, an artist could simultaneously record both image and sound on a single substrate, independently operate the recording mechanism, and build their own tools to experiment with the possibilities of the electronic signal. Many of the earliest video experiments took place at art centers around Upstate and Western New York. To celebrate the launch of VSW&rsquo;s current exhibition, Signal into Memory, this program highlights a range of approaches from abstract imagery to street documentary, made by artists over a two decade period when moving image tools, aesthetics and audiences expanded rapidly into the electronic realm. The screening will feature rarely seen video works by some of the most innovative video artists of the 1970&rsquo;s and 80&rsquo;s, including Sherry Miller Hocking, Ralph Hocking, Matthew Schlanger, Bridgid Polk, Peer Bode, Steina and Woody Vasulka, and others. Program selected by Peer Bode, Nilson Carroll and Tara Merenda Nelson

Electronic Echoes: Video Art from the 1970s and 80s

Game Jam #1: FlickgameSaturday February 21, 1-5pmIn-person&nbsp;A game jam is an event in which &nbsp;artists, makers, poets, and storytellers make a video game entirely from scratch, in one sitting. This spring, VSW will host a series of game jams and demonstrations that encourage collaboration and experimentation in a low-stakes, supportive environment. Each game jam will begin with a short demo of a free and accessible game-making tool led by VSW Assistant Curator and games artist Nilson Carroll. Participants will then be given time and space to explore that tool however they like.&nbsp; The first tool featured in the series is&nbsp;Flickgame, an easy-to-use, intuitive game engine for making small, doodle-based narratives, designed by London-based freeware games artist Increpare. Flickgame is the perfect way to get started making games and digital art. Recommended Experience Level: No experience needed

RSVP: Game Jam #1: Flickgame

Love SLUDGE Film ScreeningThursday, February 12, 7-9 pm $10, in-person Perhaps our most unique cinematic series, SLUDGE combines multiple 16mm films from the deepest corners of the VSW film archive and projects them simultaneously, creating critical collisions, jovial juxtapositions and exhilarating experiments. This early February SLUDGE presents the perfect moment for series curator and projectionist Mary Lewandowski to mine the VSW collection for as many expressions and interpretations of romance and heartache (Kissing and Missing) that can fit on the screen at one time. Come indulge in an extra gooey Love SLUDGE with a growing community of offbeat film appreciators, and experience a sensational experiment in pop maximalism for yourself!

Love SLUDGE Film Screening

Join us in the VSW theater for an engaged conversation with Qiana Mestrich and Carla Williams about diversity in photographic history and the legacy of&nbsp;Dodge and Burn. Mestrich and Williams are dynamic artists, educators and historians who are concerned with amplifying the works of photographers of color.&nbsp; Mestrich is the author of&nbsp;Decolonization and Diversity in Contemporary Photography,&nbsp;a seminal text based off of her long-running photography blog,&nbsp;Dodge and Burn,&nbsp;which features interviews with artists such as Keisha Scarville, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Lola Flash, Chester Higgins, Jr., Hernease Davis and Nakeya Brown. Williams, who wrote the foreword to Mestrich&rsquo;s book, is a groundbreaking photographer, educator and author. Williams also co-authored&nbsp;The Black Female Body: A Photographic&nbsp;History with Deborah Willis, and her first monograph,&nbsp;Tender, won the 2023 Aperture Foundation First Photobook Award. Their conversation will be moderated by artist and VSW Assistant Curator, Hernease Davis.

Qiana Mestrich + Carla J. Williams: Decolonizing Photography History

VSW Assistant Curator Hernease Davis will give a gallery talk and walkthrough of her exhibition,&nbsp;Diasporas&nbsp;are&nbsp;the Landscape,&nbsp;which features the photographic, filmic and textile works of Alida Rodrigues, Claudia Claremi and Samantha Box.

Diasporas are the Landscape: Curator Walkthrough

VSW will host a two-night pop-up arcade with <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.droqen.com/" style="text-decoration-color: initial; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">droqen</a> (Alexander Clair Tseu Martin), a Toronto-based experimental video games artist. droqen&rsquo;s work often takes the form of the 2D platformer, mixing action, puzzles, performance, and poetry to interrogate games and play. This interactive installation of games from across droqen&rsquo;s career will be fully playable, and the artist will be present.&nbsp; On Thursday November 6, the arcade will be open from 6-9pm, with a live demo/artist talk with droqen and VSW Assistant Curator nilson carroll at 8pm. For folks who can&rsquo;t make it on Thursday or want more time to play in the arcade, esc to leave will also be open on Friday November 7 (First Friday), 6-9pm.

esc to leave: games by droqen

The VSW Film Archive holds over 5000 16mm films from public and university libraries. Ranging from educational to entertaining, these well-loved films are sometimes antiquated, often relevant, and always resonant. The SLUDGE project puts this unique 16mm collection to wild use, projecting and overlapping multiple films simultaneously. The surprising combinations that emerge in a SLUDGE performance expand and alter meanings, from sublime to disturbing, absurd or humorous, hypnotic and scrambling. SLUDGE the IVth: Bride of SLUDGE is the first Halloween iteration of SLUDGE, scaring up the creepiest and most dreadful films from our vault, projecting horrors natural and supernatural. Come experience the sensational SLUDGE for yourself &hellip; if you dare!

SLUDGE the IV: Bride of Sludge

<p fr-original-style='margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); font-family: SyntaxLTStd-Roman, "Gill Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' id="isPasted" style='margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); font-family: SyntaxLTStd-Roman, "Gill Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;'>This one-day crash course on magnetic media preservation will serve as an introduction to caring for video tapes, preparing them for playback, and the digitization process. Participants will witness the transfer process from beginning to end and gain a unique understanding of the field from VSW Preservation Specialist Nilson Carroll. Video tape formats discussed include &frac12;&rdquo; open reel, &frac34;&rdquo; Umatic, Betamax, VHS, and Hi8. This workshop will be held in the Media Transfer Lab onsite at VSW.<p fr-original-style='margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); font-family: SyntaxLTStd-Roman, "Gill Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' style='margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); font-family: SyntaxLTStd-Roman, "Gill Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;'>Max 8 participants. $50, $40 (members)<p fr-original-style='margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); font-family: SyntaxLTStd-Roman, "Gill Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' style='margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); font-family: SyntaxLTStd-Roman, "Gill Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;'>Please feel free to email Nilson at nilsoncarroll@vsw.org with any questions.

Intro to Video Preservation

A Community Conversation moderated by Calvin Eaton&nbsp; Holding Space: Creating Belonging in Rochester is a public gathering that invites our community to reflect on the lasting impacts of everyday racism, ableism, and sexism, especially when these harms go unacknowledged. Featuring media from the VSW archives, testimonials and an interactive conversation featuring Eaton and several community members, this event invites us to unpack what it means to &ldquo;hold space&rdquo; for each other, and discuss how creating a culture of belonging can be a healing, disruptive, and liberatory act.

Holding Space: Creating Belonging in Rochester

Signal Culture presents: FLUXThursday, March 12, 7-9 pm$10, in-person&nbsp;Debora and Jason Bernagozzi are media artists working with realtime analog and digital image processing equipment, custom made hardware and software, a variety of interactive interfaces and alternative imaging devices in a modular format. They are also co-founders (with Hank Rudolf) of Signal Culture, an experimental media art environment located in Binghamton, NY.&nbsp; For the VSW Salon, the Bernagozzis will present FLUX, a live audio visual performance using vintage video hardware and state-of-the-art digital tools. Using live image processing and remixing granulated arrangements of sonic transmissions, this work serves both as a love letter and a critical examination of the wonderful and problematic experience of living in Colorado before proceeding to the next horizon.

Signal Culture presents: FLUX

Game Jam #2: Ren&rsquo;PySaturday March 21, 1-5pmIn-person&nbsp;A game jam is an event in which &nbsp;artists, makers, poets, and storytellers make a video game entirely from scratch, in one sitting. This spring, VSW will host a series of game jams and demonstrations that encourage collaboration and experimentation in a low-stakes, supportive environment. Each game jam will begin with a short demo of a free and accessible game-making tool led by VSW Assistant Curator and games artist Nilson Carroll. Participants will then be given time and space to explore that tool however they like.&nbsp; The second tool featured in this series is&nbsp;Ren&rsquo;Py,&nbsp;an open source, beginner-friendly game engine for making narrative games using text, images, and sound. Through a simple scripting language, artists and storytellers can create both small and complex interactive narratives, poems, or worlds. Recommended Experience Level: Beginner (basic computer skills)

RSVP: Game Jam #2: RenPy

In Dialogue: Collaborations with Charles Gaines&nbsp;Friday, March 27, 7-9 pm$10, in-person Charles Gaines is a renowned conceptual artist whose practice spans five decades. Gaines is known for using systematic approaches to his work as a way of visualizing underlying social constructs in language, history and race. He is the subject of an exhibition at RIT, curated by Ellen Tani, who is an Assistant Professor of Art and is currently developing a book about Gaines. This program will feature works by and in collaboration with Charles Gaines alongside films and videos that Tani has selected from the VSW collections.

In Dialogue: Collaborations with Charles Gaines

Image Processing: Video Works by Matthew SchlangerThursday, April 9, 7- 9 pm$10, in-person&nbsp;Matthew Schlanger&rsquo;s image processed video works are serial constructions created with custom-built analog and digital processors. Each video is a real-time synthesized recording in which sound and image are parallel structures, often using periodic waveforms as image and sound source material. Schlanger is both an artist and a tool maker. He has been working with analog synthesizers since the 1980&rsquo;s, and continues to create video in his home studio in Nyack, NY. Following the screening, Schlanger will discuss his practice and how tool making has fed his image making process.

Image Processing: Video Works by Matthew Schlanger

Game Jam #3: BitsySaturday April 18, 1-5pmIn-person&nbsp;A game jam is an event in which &nbsp;artists, makers, poets, and storytellers make a video game entirely from scratch, in one sitting. This spring, VSW will host a series of game jams and demonstrations that encourage collaboration and experimentation in a low-stakes, supportive environment. Each game jam will begin with a short demo of a free and accessible game-making tool led by VSW Assistant Curator and games artist Nilson Carroll. Participants will then be given time and space to explore that tool however they like.&nbsp; The final tool featured in this series is&nbsp;Bitsy, an approachable, DIY tool for making small, lo-fi, 2D worlds to explore and interact with designed by artist Adam le Doux. Bitsy is perfect for makers who want to further experiment with text, image, and interaction. Recommended Experience Level: Beginner (basic computer skills)

RSVP: Game Jam #3: Bitsy

Handmade Film WorkshopTuesdays in April, 6-8 pm (April 7, 14, 21, 28) Create a 16mm film without using a camera! Participants will create a unique visual experience to be seen at 24 frames per second. Work directly on film with drawing, painting, scratching and dyeing techniques, and experiment with incorporating found footage to create a true collage of sound, image and texture. We will focus on producing film loops and collaged 35mm slides towards a public projection event on Friday, May 1st. Materials provided.&nbsp; Email Mary at <a fr-original-style="" href="mailto:marylewandowski@vsw.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: initial; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">marylewandowski@vsw.org</a> with any questions. $100/members $80 <p fr-original-style='margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); font-family: SyntaxLTStd-Roman, "Gill Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' style='margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); font-family: SyntaxLTStd-Roman, "Gill Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; width: 100%; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;'>

Handmade Film Workshop (April 2026)

Former students, teachers, friends of VSW, we can&#39;t wait to celebrate with you at VSW in May!&nbsp; Friday, May 29 &nbsp;6:00pm &ndash; 9:00pm: Reception at VSW with food &amp; drinks Saturday, May 30&nbsp;12:00pm &ndash; 4:00pm: Open House + a Picnic in the Susan B. Anthony square -- Spend time in the VSW library and collections, view slides shows and other memorabilia streaming in the theater or play games and catch up in the park.&nbsp; Optional evening activity. Sunday, May 31&nbsp;9:00am - 11:00am&nbsp;Coffee and Pastries at Joan Lyons house

Visual Studies Workshop Inc

Visual Studies Workshop Inc

Events

Events

Signal Culture presents: FLUX

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RSVP: Game Jam #2: RenPy

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In Dialogue: Collaborations with Charles Gaines

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Image Processing: Video Works by Matthew Schlanger

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RSVP: Game Jam #3: Bitsy

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Handmade Film Workshop (April 2026)

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VSW Alumni Reunion

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