In Vocalizations, Steina Vasulka was inspired by the voice of the American singer and composer Joana La Barbara (* 1947), known for experiments with the expanding of the classical vocal technique by a new vocabulary including trills, whispers, shouts, sighs, inhaled tones and multiphonics (singing two or more pitches simultaneously). Steina Vasulka challenged the singer to create this video work with her voice. La Barbara watched the shots of the desert landscape, and by using her voice, she cut and combined them in various ways in real-time. Steina Vasulka then finalized the video into a collage of four simultaneous windows, projected in parallel in a single image, added speed changes, directional variations and other electronic voice processing. The videotape should be a part of an installation consisting of four monitors located on the ground, in the centre of a darkened room, with screens facing to four corners and stereo sound sources.

Author: Steina Vasulka

Co-author: Joan La Barbara
(voice performance)

Year: 1990

Artistic medium: projected video environment

Technical medium: Installation made of four-channel video, eight-channel audio, 15 min loop.

Performer: Joan La Barbara (voice)

References: BAROK, Dušan. Steina and Woody Vasulka. Monoskop.org [online] URL
VASULKAS. Vasulka.org [online] URL