A Closer Look at CBC’s Video Art Collection: Emerge

When Capitol Broadcasting renovated and redesigned our corporate headquarters and built a new addition last year, CBC President & CEO Jim Goodmon envisioned creating a tribute to North Carolina artists for CBC employees and visitors to enjoy. The halls of CBC’s Western Blvd location are now lined with original artwork including photography, textiles, paintings, sculptures and mixed media pieces created by a variety of artists. Since CBC’s divisions include two television stations, including video art in the collection only seems natural.

Currently CBC’s collection includes three video art pieces. Goodmon’s eventual goal is to rotate the video art pieces and solicit submissions from employees, and he recently sent out the call for entries from CBC’ers.

Today we take a closer look at the second video art installed at the Western Blvd campus: ‘Emerge’ by Brooklyn-based video and performance artist William Lamson. Created in 2007, the digital video loops runs 2m 17s.

About Emerge
Emerge exemplifies the artist’s preoccupation with the sublime forces of the natural world and the unnatural interventions we conduct in order to understand it. The image is at first reminiscent of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s timeless seascapes. Viewers watch and listen to the movement of the water, as the sense of time and expectation begin to drift away. Only then does a brightly colored balloon break from the surface of the water. The balloon is manipulated by the current before it eventually floats away. One after the other, the viewers watch the playful series of happenings, while the passage of time is measured only by the appearance and disappearance of the balloons.

About the Artist
Lamson works in video, photography, performance and sculpture. His work addresses issues of masculinity, amateurism, science, play and the quixotic quest for personal heroism that accompanies these subjects. His video works often find him playfully and strenuously interacting with his environment (both in the natural world and in his studio).

Kelly McChesney, owner of the Flanders Gallery in downtown Raleigh, helped procure the pieces for CBC. She currently serves on the CBC Art Committee along with Goodmon and several other CBC staff members.

‘Emerge’ is located outside the office of WRAL-TV Vice President General Manager, beside his WRAL-TV Admin Asst Patrice Jobes’ desk on the first floor of the news building.

“The video art adjacent to my desk is a very calming piece,” said Jobes. “On those days when my area feels like Grand Central Station, I can glance over and gaze at the waves and it’s an instant de-stressor.”

Thanks to Kelly McChesney and Lile Stephens for contributions to this capcom story.