INNOVATIVE VIDEOS ARE A SURPRISE

When Tom Heller began organizing the Newport Harbor Art Museum’s “Friday Night Videos� series, he anticipated using tapes by such respected artist-musicians as Laurie Anderson and Talking Heads. He also planned to include innovative and experimental videos produced at the California Arts Institute in his attempt to assemble the most creative music videos.

Along the way, however, he was surprised to discover that some of the best samples have come from the least likely sources.

“I don’t watch (MTV) regularly,� Heller said during a recent interview at his Laguna Canyon home, “but it’s interesting to see some of the videos from people you might not expect to do a really nice tape--bands that usually just get up and yell about going out with a girlfriend or something.

“A lot of tapes are actually getting better and going beyond just hitting the libido. People are interested in the fact that it is television. It’s like when movie cameras hit the general public and people said, ‘I’m a star, I can do this.’ The medium has some possibilities other than ‘I can be a geek.’ �

As a result of that discovery, tonight’s second installment in the series--the program begins at 8-- will mix popular recent rock videos by Dire Straits, A-Ha and Mick Jagger with less widely seen works from video artists including John Gibson and Michael Scroggins. The emphasis will be on tapes using animated and computer-generated images over music ranging from King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew to minimalist composer Philip Glass.

The video showings are part of the ongoing Contemporary Culture Series of music, produced by the museum’s education department and coordinated by Heller.

But while many innovative artists still don’t show up regularly on MTV, Heller suggests their work is having an impact on those who do.

For instance, before Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing� video, few rock videos used computer animation. But because of the success of that tape, animation is the hottest trend in videos.

“People see that and change the way they do it,� Heller said.

Conversely, innovative video artists are finding music video to be an attractive alternative to commercial projects as a way of both exercising creativity and making money.

“Artists say, ‘Why should I do this trade show or corporation, when I can do this (music video), have fun and do more with it?’ � Heller said.

Videos have also proven popular at Newport Harbor Art Museum, where nearly 200 people attended the first program in the series in October.

“I was surprised,� Heller said. “I knew there were going to be a lot of people, but I didn’t know there would be twice that many. . . . The first one made me really happy because it attracted a wide variety of people. I know commercial and graphic artists, and there they were out in the audience. It didn’t occur to me they would come (to see videos), but then I thought, why not? They look at video the same way: for the potential and how they are revolutionizing what’s going on.�

Although the impact of videos on the music business and in commercial avenues is undeniable, it’s still not clear whether they constitute a bona fide art form.

“That debate is something that will continue,� Heller said, “like the photography versus painting debate.�

For most musicians, videos are still used primarily to sell records. But one of Heller’s goals for the series is to point out the potentials for the medium that have gone largely unnoticed by the public.

“When we think about music video, we usually think about pop culture and bands,� he said, “But the person doing the video may not be (in a rock band). John Gibson, who plays with Philip Glass, does videos with geometrical images and plays clarinet and sax, very minimalist. And (composer) Robert Ashley is doing opera for video.

“It’s kind of nice with the series to put them into a program and focus someone’s attention,� Heller said. “It puts it on a different plane than just entertainment, something to dance to. It’s not so heavy that you can’t enjoy it, but it won’t be so light and frivolous that you just toss it off.�

LIVE ACTION: The Mighty Flyers will perform Dec. 20-21 at Marcel’s in Costa Mesa. . . . Fear will play Spatz in Huntington Harbour on Dec. 13. El Grupo Sexo returns to Spatz on Dec. 15. . . . Chris D. and the Divine Horsemen will appear at Safari Sam’s in Huntington Beach on Dec. 14.