John Sanborn: Between Order and Entropy, Works 1976–2022

A Time Machine to the Early Days of Video Art And Right Back into the Future

John Sanborn: Between Order and Entropy, Works 1976–2022 presents the evolution of John Sanborn, one of the most prominent figures in the American video art scene during the 1970s and 1980s. His work spans from the origins of experimental video art to MTV music videos, interactive art, and digital media art.

As a consultant for Apple and Adobe, Sanborn helped shape the potential of new image technologies, playing a key role in the advent of the digital image revolution in California. This monograph collects a diverse range of works that spans over four decades, exploring themes such as sound, music, cultural identity, memory, mythologies, and the human urge to narrate stories.

Contributions by video art experts and insights from Sanborn’s friends and colleagues, alongside a dialogue between Sanborn and renowned media artist Dara Birnbaum, delve into the dynamic interplay between mass media and contemporary art. Sanborn reflects on the distinctive trajectory of his career, recounting a journey from museums and alternative spaces to television networks, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley, before his return to the art world.

Few artists working with media can claim such a breadth of exploration across many visual domains.