Rebecca Cleman
April 21, 2026

This week we welcome the amazing Rebecca Cleman, a writer and the director of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) in New York City. Born in Flagstaff, Arizona the same year that VCRs came on the consumer market, Cleman has an abiding interest in the mythologies of the American West and the public use of video recording.

Cleman discusses the legacy of EAI, a nonprofit founded in 1971 by the visionary gallerist Howard Wise to encourage the use of video technology by artists. We talk about the changing role of EAI in a world where video has become ubiquitous and how this historically important institution is navigating the continual evolution of technology, from video cassettes to streaming, from cable access TV to YouTube and beyond.

Cleman’s audio selections range from Ennio Morricone and the Clash to George Carlin and Lily Tomlin. Comedy and the Spaghetti Western are perfect foils for her interest in artists who can take things apart and expose narratives and histories that are hidden, people like Jaime Davidovich, Charlotte Moorman, Nam June Paik, Robert Buck, Cory Arcangel, and Nancy Holt.

We also talk about “Yo! MTV Raps”, horror movies, Marshall McLuhan, and her childhood growing up in a very musical family in the desert wanting nothing more than to play ice hockey. A great show!

Complete playlist below; tracks in yellow were cut for time.

1. The Ecstasy Of Gold, Ennio Morricone, 1967
   
2. Why Am I so Tired All the Time? Eggs, 1994
   
3. Oscillations, Silver Apples, 1968
   
4. Advertising, George Carlin
   
5. Don't Believe The Hype, Public Enemy, 1988
   
6. Potholes in My Lawn, De La Soul, 1989
   
7. Mr. Veedle (Live At The Ice House,) Lily Tomlin, 1971
   
8. Clampdown, The Clash, 1979
   
9. Lonesome, On'ry and Mean, Waylon Jennings, 1973
10. Egg Man, Beastie Boys, 1989
11. Big Mess, DEVO, 1982
12. Highway Star, Deep Purple, 1972
13. Hey Jane Mansfield Superstar, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, 1989
14. Backslider, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, 2010
15. Gasoline, Britney Spears, 2011
16. Candy's Room, Bruce Springsteen, 1978
17. Pine Box Derby, Beat Happening, 1992
18. No Particular Place To Go, Chuck Berry, 1964
19. Teen Angel, Mark Dinning, 2021
20. The Day The Earth Stood Still, Bernard Herrmann, 1951

Rebecca Cleman (b. 1975, Flagstaff Arizona) is a writer and the director of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI). She was raised by a pianist mother and a composer father who kept a slim but choice selection of rock-n-roll albums within their prodigious collection of classical music, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, and the American Graffiti soundtrack were as formative as Rossini, Bach, and Bartók.

Professionally, Rebecca has enjoyed a long career at EAI, a leading distributor and archive of artists' videos from the 1960s to the present, which includes videos by previous Selection Committee guests Robert Buck, Michael Smith, Jake Brush, and Phyllis Baldino. She has published essays on video art and film, with a focus on infrastructure and artists television, and programmed many screenings and curated a few exhibitions, including VHS: The Exhibition at Franklin Street Works and, with Alex Klein, Broadcasting: EAI at ICA. Recently, she co-edited The New Television: Video After Television with Rachel Churner and Tyler Maxin, published by no place press.

Highways, hot rods, and hockey are particular non-professional subjects of interest.