Pola Weiss Álvarez facts for kids

Pola Maria Weiss Álvarez, known as Pola Weiss, was a groundbreaking artist from Mexico. She is famous for being the first to create video art in her country. Pola also made unique videos that mixed dance and video, which is now called screendance or videodanza. Besides her art, she was a television producer and taught about film, video, and TV.

Pola Weiss's Early Life and Education

Pola Weiss was born in Mexico City in 1947. Her father was from Alsace, and her mother was Mexican. She grew up when television was becoming a huge way for people to get information. Her younger sister, Kitzia, remembered that Pola loved motion pictures even as a child.

Pola went to the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). She first planned to study political science. But she also took cinematography classes at UNAM's film school, CUEC. While studying, she worked in TV, including for Televisa and Canal 13.

In 1975, Pola did something new at UNAM. She presented her final project as a videotape, which had never been done before. She earned her degree in mass communication and journalism. After graduating, she made shows for public and commercial TV. Pola even created her own word, "teleasta," to describe herself. It was like "cineasta" (filmmaker), but for television. She also liked to play with her own name, using words like POLArizado or POLAr.

How Pola Weiss Became a Video Art Pioneer

Pola's art was greatly shaped by the Fluxus movement. This art style focused on the process of making art, not just the finished piece. She was also inspired by artists like Nam June Paik and Shigeko Kubota.

After a trip to New York, she met Paik and Kubota. They were important artists in the late 1960s who experimented with video. Paik was a main artist in the Fluxus movement and a pioneer of video art. He was known for playing with TV images. Kubota was a leader in video sculpture and often included feminist ideas in her work.

At that time, artists used technology to mix sound and images. There were no easy ways to show or share this new kind of art. So, Pola wanted to use television as a way for artists to show their work. In 1977, she started her company, arTV. Its goal was to help create video and audio productions. Pola believed that television was the "mother of video" and could be a form of art itself. That's why she called her art "arTV," because it could reach many people.

In 1977, Pola showed her first work, Flor cósmica (Cosmic Flower). This was at the 9th International Video Art Meeting in Mexico City. In the same year, as a professor at UNAM, she started the first video production and research space. It was called Taller Experimental de Video. From 1977 until her death in 1990, Pola worked on many projects. Her art was shown in the United States, Venezuela, France, The Netherlands, Uruguay, Poland, Canada, Belgium, Brazil, and Argentina.

Pola's Unique Videography Style

In the late 1970s, video art was very new in Mexico. Pola developed a special way of working with her camera, almost like a performance. She saw video as a mix of personal feelings and public communication.

Pola used broadcast television to reach many different people. This was something art galleries and museums couldn't do. She used TV as a platform to show her art. But she made sure her work didn't become too commercial or follow strict TV rules.

Pola wanted to change how video and TV were used. She aimed to connect artists with their viewers. She linked media and real life to show how art and media are related. She also wanted to use this connection to reveal truths and avoid false media portrayals. She used different art forms, mixing personal views and emotions. This helped her show "the Other" and make viewers feel a personal connection.

Pola used video's structure and TV's ideas to get viewers interested in art. She used "projection-identifications," showing real-life images to create a reaction in the audience. She wanted video to reinvent communication in a new way, different from regular TV. Many of her works came from feminist ideas. She showed these ideas through body, identity, and emotions. Pola combined documentary and fictional styles in her videos. For example, Flor cósmica was like a changing kaleidoscope. But Santa Cruz Tepexpan was more like a documentary.

Pola Weiss's Famous Works

Flor Cósmica (1977)

This was Pola's first video. She showed it at the 9th International Video Art Meeting in Mexico City. The video is about five minutes long. It looks like a kaleidoscope. It shows black and white images that change as music by Chick Corea plays. The images open up to yellow, violet, and pink lights, forming a flower. The colors then change to yellow, red, and blue.

Ciudad-Mujer-Ciudad (1978)

In this 18-minute video, Pola creates a unique world. She uses special effects like chroma key and bright colors. Geometric shapes with strong colors change into views of mountains, skies, and rivers. You also see Mexican city areas. These are mixed with images of a woman dancing, played by Vivian Blackmore. The woman's image fades as shots of Mexico City, its people, and pollution appear. Sounds of birds and laughter are heard in the background.

Pola compares the city to the woman, showing the artificial and natural. She uses the idea of water. The woman represents the earth and city that are "thirsty." This is because their rivers have been "cut" (channeled). The only way the city can get water is by crying. With this video, Pola shows her social concerns and artistic interests. She doesn't use a formal environmental message. Instead, she uses a poetic story, like in movies. The woman's movements suggest freedom and joy. Her skin tone contrasts with the bright background colors.

This video was shown in the Nuevas Tendencias exhibition in Mexico City. It was also planned to be shown on TV.

Somos mujeres (1978)

This video shows images of indigenous women in busy Mexico City streets. Pola highlights their lives among the city's noise and smog. She uses bright colors and psychedelic shapes. She quickly zooms in and out with her camera. The images sometimes look shaky because Pola didn't use a tripod. In one part, there's text in a local language without a translation. In another scene, a woman throws things at Pola's camera. Pola included this to show her different idea for video and TV. She believed that new ways of seeing could make the audience more involved.

In this video, Pola addresses issues of gender, class, and race in cities. These issues often push women to the side. She focuses on the challenges faced by indigenous women and poverty in Mexico City. One expert says her videos act like an "archive." They show how everyday situations affect women's lives.

Autovideato (1979)

"Autovideato" means video self-portrait. In this piece, Pola creates a short visual essay about herself. She includes a dancing woman to playfully challenge Mexican media rules. She also blends images of herself using special effects.

In this video, Pola shares a very personal message. It's an emotional conversation between her and her father. She tells him about her life at the time and new changes. Pola writes that she believes she has found her true calling in video art. Even though her father might not fully approve, she explains her successes. She also tells him that video has given her a new way to see the world.

Mi Corazón (1986)

Many experts, like Dante Miranda Hernández, believe Mi Corazón (My Heart) best shows who Pola Weiss was. This is even though it's hard to pick just one work.

In 1985, Mexico City had a terrible earthquake. In this ten-minute video, Pola again explores the link between the body and the city. She did this in Ciudad-Mujer-Ciudad and Somos Mujeres too. The video starts with the camera on Pola's mouth as she spells out "mi co-ra-zón." She then says, "mi ojo es mi corazón" (my eye is my heart). This means she believes seeing is like feeling. She also connects the real earthquake to a deep personal sadness she felt. You hear a beating heart. She also shows a flower dripping blood, referring to menstruation. As she twists and dances, Pola's figure turns greenish. Flashes of an electrocardiogram and tears appear. Pola compares her pregnant figure to Gustav Klimt's painting, Esperanza I. Pola enters a hospital, and the word "fetus" is written on a skull. Pola mixes her personal thoughts with scenes of the earthquake. Then the word "Mexico" appears. Pola stretches and dances against a background of the ruined city. Parts of another Klimt painting, Life and Death, overlap. A skull with a scythe (a tool for cutting grass, often a symbol of death) appears. She poses in a V shape, face down, with a red, beating heart behind her.

List of Pola Weiss's Video Productions

• Flor Cósmica (1977)
• Ciudad-Mujer-Ciudad (1978)
• Somos mujeres (1978)
• Versátil (1978)
• Freud I (Introducción al pensamiento psicoanalítico actual) (1978)
• Freud II (Introducción al pensamiento psicoanalítico actual) (1978)
• Cuetzalán y yo (1979)
• Autovideato (1979)
• El avión (1979)
• Videodanza viva videodanza (1979)
• Papalotl (1979)
• Xochimilco (1979)
• Cuilapan de Guerrero (1979)
• Los muertos en Etla (1979)
• Todavía estamos (1979)
• Amante set (1979)
• Caleidoscopio (1979)
• Sol o Águila (1980)
• Santa Cruz Tepexpan (1980)
• La venusina renace y reforma (1980)
• Exoego (1981)
• Toma el video abuelita (y enséñame tu ropero) (1982)
  • This video was only presented, no video recording exists.
• El eclipse (1982)
• Extrapolación (1982)
• Salto (1983)
• Navideo (1983)
• Palenque y ¿Pola qué? (1983)
• Bidé o Eskultura (1983)
• Las tasas de interés (1983)
• La Buceadita (1983)
• Toti amiga (1983)
• arTVing (1983)
• La Carrera (1983)
• David I (1983)
  • Pola Weiss was an invited artist in this foreign video production.
• Videorigen de Weiss (1984)
• Weegee (1985)
• Romualdo García (1985)
• Videopus (1985)
• Videoklip de Duerme (1985)
• Ejercicio con Mo (1985)
• Mi Corazón (1986)
• Merlín (1987)
• Inertia (1989)

Exhibitions Where Pola Weiss's Art Was Shown

• 1977 IX Encuentro Internacional del Videoarte, Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico City
• 1978 Pola Weiss, Teleasta, Foro de la Librería Gandhi, Mexico City
• 1978 Antología POLAr, Canal 10, Arts Intermix, New York
• 1978 Nuevas Tendencias, Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM), Mexico City
• 1978 Introducción al Pensamiento psicoanalítico actual, Palacio de Minería, Mexico City
• 1979 I Video Festival de Caracas 79, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Venezuela
• 1979 International Art Exhibition, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, USA
• 1979 Encuentro Internacional de L'arte della Performance, Palazzo Grassi de Venecia, Italy
• 1979 Videos de Pola Weiss, Unidad Azcapotzalco, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City
• 1979 Fideicomiso Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, México
• 1979 Juegos y mugritas, Pola Weiss, Galería Pecanins, Mexico City
• 1979 Pola Weiss, arTV, Centro George Pompidou, Musée National d´Art Moderne, Paris, France
• 1979 Pola Weiss, Mexico, MonteVideo Art Gallery de Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 1980 Athens Video Festival, Ohio, USA
• 1980 Anthology Films Archives, Dirección de Presupuesto por Programas, UNAM, Mexico City
• 1980 Northwest Chicano Community, New York
• 1980 La venusina renace y reforma, Museo Michoacano, INAH, Morelia, Michoacán, México
• 1980 Abriendo espacios..., Auditorio Nacional, INBA, Mexico City
• 1980 Seminario de Economía, Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
• 1980 Seminario de Economía, Universidad de Cracovia, Poland
• 1981 Artes plásticas y videos con Pola Weiss, Akademie voor Beeldende Kunst, Sint Joost, Breda, The Netherlands
• 1981 Artes plásticas y videos con Pola Weiss, Akademie voor Beeldende Kunst AKI, Enschede, The Netherlands
• 1981 ExtraPOLAción, Galería Chapultepec, INBA, Mexico City
• 1981 Pola Weiss, MonteVideo Art Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 1981 Pola Weiss, Instituto Latinoamericano de Comunicación Educativa (ILCE), Mexico City
• 1981 Escultura 81, Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (ENAP), Mexico City
• 1981 Exoego, Air Gallery, London, England
• 1982 Polarizando, Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM), Mexico City
• 1982 Bienal de París, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
• 1982 Toma el video abuelita (y enséñame tu ropero), ACTV, Canal 7, Austin, Texas
• 1982 Toma el video abuelita (y enséñame tu ropero), Museo del Chopo, Mexico CIty
• 1982 Se ExtraPOLA se InterPOLA WEISS, Galería Chapultepec, Mexico City
• 1983 Video Cankarjev Dom de Liubliana Festival, Yugoslavia
• 1983 Videosud de París Festival, France
• 1983 MonteVideo Art Gallery Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 1983 Video/Culture Festival, Toronto, Canada
• 1995 Intimidad, Centro de la Imagen, México
• 2008 Historia de mujeres: Artistas en México del Siglo XX, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, México
• 2014-2015 Pola Weiss: La TV te ve, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City
• 2016 Pola Weiss: Performing with the Video, Chalton Gallery, London, England
• 2017 Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California

Where to Find Pola Weiss's Art Collections

Most of Pola Weiss's works are kept by the Fondo Pola Weiss. This is at the Arkehia documentation center. You can find it at the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporaneo (MUAC). Her works are also held by TV UNAM.

Honors and Recognition for Pola Weiss

Pola Weiss never received formal awards. However, she was honored in 1987 at the International Video Festival in Montpellier, France. There, she was recognized as the most important video artist in Latin America.