Hollywood and Vine - Colin Campbell (1977)

In this video, part of Colin Campbell’s “Woman from Malibu” series, Colin Campbell constructs, on video, the titular role of the Woman. [1] This video helps highlight the distinctions between an assembled character for a performance and that of a gendered identity. Nevertheless, Campbell's character of the Woman is represented consistently by voice and continuously revealed with the application of makeup and a wig. The fictional story that the "Woman" tells mirrors that of the relationship of the author and his feminine persona.

Toronto based artist Colin Campbell was one of the early pioneers of video art in Canada. Originally a sculptor, Campbell was first introduced to video in 1972 – around the time that the technology was beginning to emerge at a consumer level. “For me, video’s appeal lay in its potential for theatricality, performance and narrative,” said Campbell in an issue of Now Magazine. “The first subject of those things was myself. Gradually I started to turn the camera outward, developing characters and personae much different from my own.” Campbell’s videos have explored gender-bending scenarios using both comedy and tragedy as a backdrop. In his exploration of gender stereotypes, Campbell utilized what he called the “aesthetics of poverty” which consisted of informal styles and scripts, cheap sets, and a cast often made up of himself and friends. [2] Campbell died on October 31, 2001, in Toronto.

[1] Peggy Gale. “Hollywood and Vine” Invention Catalogue, Art Metropole, 1993.
[2] Colin Campbell: Video Artist. Retrieved 2009-12-16.