1972 - 1975
Porta Pak and Single - Channel
Behind the Video Door I travel alone with my portapack on my back, as Vietnamese women do with their babies. I like video, because it is heavy. Portapack and I traveled over Europe, Navajo land, and Japan without male accompany. Portapack tears down my shoulder, backbone, and waist. I feel like a Soviet woman, working on the Siberian Railway. I made a videotape called Europe on 1/2 Inch a Day. I had one summer with a Navajo family in Chinle, Arizona. I made a videotape called An American Family.
– Shigeko Kubota
Chronology: Porta Pak – Single-Channel
1972
■ [Mar.] Acquired a SONY Portapak through Mrs. Abe.
■ [May 1‒ ] Traveled throughout Europe and took video (Frankfurt, Bremen, Amsterdam, Paris, Rouen, Nice, Venice, et al.).
■ Moved into an artists’ building, Westbeth in New York City.
■ [June 30] The first live presentation of her video, Live and Videotape Concert, The Kitchen, New York.
◎ Cage-Tudor-Duchamp / Europe on half inch a Day
■ [Sept. 5] Video Birthday Party (60th) of John Cage by Shigeko Kubota, The Kitchen, New York.
◎ John Cage in Bremen, New York, San Francisco and Toronto
■ [Sept. 16, 23, 30] Participated in the Women’s Video Festival, The Kitchen, New York.
◎ Joa: Impasse of the Infidelity
■ [Sept. 30] Daily Performance: Shigeko Kubota Video Tapes, Experimental Television Center Binghamton at Everson Museum, Syracuse, New York.
◎ Three Channels Video Performance (Marcel Duchamp-John Cage Chess match / Europe on a Tape a Day with slight time variations)(sic.)
■ [Oct. 3‒29] Videotapes, de Saisset Art Gallery, University of Santa Clara, California.
◎[unknown]
■ [Oct. 28‒30] 9th Annual New York Avant-Garde Festival, South Street Seaport, Alexander Hamilton Boat.
◎ Video Birthday Party for John Cage II
■ [Nov. 21] Participated in the An Evening of Video Exhibition, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.
◎ Video Birthday Party for John Cage, No.3 / Europe on 1/2 inch a day / Impasse of Infidelity / Marcel Duchamp and John Cage
■ [Dec. 16] The first live concert of women’s group, White Black Red & Yellow at The Kitchen, New York.
◎ Riverrun―Video Water Poem
■ First Annual New York Video Festival, The Kitchen, New York.
◎[unknown]
1973
■ Video Artist in Residence, School of the Art Institute Chicago, Illinois (1981, 1982, 1984)
◎[unknown]
■ [solo show] Wabash Transit Gallery, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
◎[unknown]
■ [Apr. 17‒May 18] Circuit: A Video International, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, et al.
◎[Europe on 1/2 inch a Day]
■ [Apr. 20, 21] The second (and last) live concert of women’s group, White Black Red & Yellow at The Kitchen, New York.
◎ Video Fortunetelling
■ [May 4‒14] About 405 East 13th Street (#1), 405 East 13 Street, New York.
◎ Water Event
■ [May 28] Second Annual Video Arts Festival: Shigeko Kubota, The Kitchen, New York.
◎ A36-24-36
■ [June] Visited Chinle, Arizona and stayed in a Navajo Indian reservation. Took video for Video Girls and Video Songs for Navajo Sky (Hereafter Navajo Sky).
■ [Sept. 28, Oct. 12, 14 ] Second Annual Women’s Video Festival, The Kitchen, New York.
◎ Navajo Sky
■ [Dec. 9] Participated in the 10th Annual New York Avant Garde Festival, Grand Central Station,New York.
◎[unknown]
■ [Dec. 31] Returned home in Japan and videorecorded her father in sickbed.
1974
■ [Jan. 7‒9] Organized Tokyo-New York: Video Express with Video Hiroba and Underground Center, Tenjo Sajiki, Tokyo.
◎[unknown]
■ [Jan. 23‒25] Participated as a guest speaker at the symposium “Open Circuits: The Future of Television,” Museum of Modern Art, New York.
■ [Feb. 13] Video Celebration for John Cage, Harvard University, Cambridge.
◎[unknown]
■ [Feb. 18] Women in Film and Video, State University of New York, Buffalo.
◎ Navajo Sky
■ [Apr. 18, 19, 20, 21] About 405 East 13th Street (#2), 405 East 13 Street, New York.
◎[unknown]
■ [May 30‒June 16] ART NOW 74: A Celebration of the American Arts, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.
◎ Navajo Sky
■ [June 15‒30] Tokyo Biennale 1974, Kyoto City Museum of Art.
◎ 作品(work)
■ Purchased a loft on Mercer St. through George Maciunas and moved there with Paik.
■ [July 7] Father died. Made My Father.
■ [July‒Aug.] Project 1974, Kölnischer Kunsteverein, Cologne.
◎[unknown]
■ [Nov.] Started video curator job at the Anthology Film Archives (till 1982).
■ [Nov. 16] 11th Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York, Shea Stadium, New York.
◎ Video Wind, Video Stripe
■ [Nov. 30] Soup and Tart, The Kitchen, New York.
◎[unknown]
1975
■ Had a miscarriage. Recorded Hospital Diary.
■ Received a Creative Artists Public Service Program Grant.
■ Received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (also in 1978 and 1980).
■ [Apr. 10‒26 ]Women’s Video Festival, Women’s Interart Center, New York.
◎ Marcel Duchamp and John Cage
■ [May 30‒June 7]The first video sculpture exhibition, Video Poem by Shigeko Kubota, The Kitchen, New York.
◎ Duchamp ’s Grave (Hereafter Grave) / Self-portrait (Later Video Poem)
■ [June]Projected Video, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
◎ Chess (tape)
■ [Sept. 17‒Nov. 2]Video Art, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
◎ Europe on 1/2 inch a day
■ [Sept. 27]12th Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York, Gateway National Recreation Area, New York.
◎[unknown]
■ [Nov. 1‒Jan. 31, 1976 ]Projects: Video VI, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
◎ Video Girls and Video Songs for Navajo Sky
■ [Nov. 25‒Dec. 19]Shigeko Kubota: Two Pieces, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York.
◎[unknown]
■ [unknown ]Two Installations, and/or Gallery, Seattle, Washington.
◎ Grave / Video Poem: Self-Portrait
■ Southland Video Anthology, Long Beach Museum of Art, California.
◎ A Day at the California Institute of the Arts (with Shuya Abe)