The Father of the Music Video

Provocative starlets, apocalyptic mushroom clouds, marching soldiers and a dash of Ray Charles: welcome to the world of artist Bruce Conner, who created some of the earliest examples of the music video. Conner made a name for himself in the 1950s with his surreal assemblage sculptures before producing short films by editing aged documentaries and educational reels. Though he went on to create videos with minimalist composer Terry Riley (Crossroads, 1976) and post-punk mavericks Devo (Mongoloid, 1978), one of his earliest was 1961’s Cosmic Ray, which featured Ray Charles’s "What’d I Say" alongside a jarring collage of archival footage: girls getting dressed, American flags, guns and Mickey Mouse. This month SFMOMA hosts an exhibition of Conner’s films, with a re-edited three-screen projection of Cosmic Ray taking center stage.