Radical Software

Radical Software was an early journal devoted to the artistic, political, and social uses of video. It began in New York City in 1970, at a time when portable video equipment and alternative media practices were opening communications possibilities outside established television and corporate broadcasting. Although its title later became associated with computer culture, the phrase originally referred to the content, circulation, and social consequences of information rather than to software code. The journal was founded by Phyllis Gershuny and Beryl Korot. Its first issue grew from a questionnaire circulated among a broad range of people interested in video, media, art, communications, and social change. Instead of presenting the responses as a conventional report, the editors shaped them through an experimental process of selection and arrangement. This editorial method was central to the publication's identity: Radical Software treated the organization of information as both a political question and a creative practice. The journal promoted the idea that communities should participate directly in making and distributing images and information. Its contributors challenged the dominance of broadcast and corporate media and considered how video might support grassroots communication, artistic experimentation, documentation, education, and political organizing. The publication therefore functioned not simply as a periodical about video technology, but as a forum for rethinking who controls communication systems and how media environments are built. Radical Software was closely connected with Raindance Corporation, a loosely organized network of videographers, artists, writers, technicians, and other media practitioners. Raindance eventually took over the journal's editing and publishing activities. Its wider circle included people with philosophical, artistic, and production backgrounds. Michael Shamberg, who later became a Hollywood producer, co-edited the fifth issue with Dudley Evenson. Dean Evenson contributed articles, technical drawings, and cartoons, while Ira Schneider was recognized for helping maintain the mailing list and for offering editorial suggestions. The publication's editorial direction changed over time. After the third issue began, Schneider and Korot became editors, and disagreements over the direction of the journal produced a split from the original vision. Gershuny subsequently left. Later issues were produced by different groups, and both the format and emphasis shifted again. These changes reflected the collective and sometimes unstable structure of the alternative-video movement, in which editorial responsibility was distributed among temporary collaborations rather than a conventional publishing hierarchy. Eleven issues of Radical Software were produced before Raindance Corporation folded in 1974. Despite its short run, the journal became an important document of experimental video culture and alternative media history. Its significance lies in its early recognition that video could be a participatory communications system rather than merely a broadcast product, and that the design of information flows could itself be a form of cultural and political action. The publication is now chiefly encountered through archival and historical collections rather than as an active periodical.

Radical Software emerged in New York City in 1970 during the growth of independent video, media art, and alternative communications. Its founders, Phyllis Gershuny and Beryl Korot, initiated the project with a questionnaire distributed to people interested in the cultural and political possibilities of video. The first issue transformed the responses into an experimentally edited publication, supplemented by specially prepared articles. Its form was inseparable from its argument: the way information is selected, arranged, and circulated shapes public understanding and social power. The journal advocated grassroots participation in the creation of an information environment independent of broadcast and corporate media. It addressed video as a tool for artistic experimentation, political communication, documentation, and community activity. Its immediate impact came from the way it articulated concerns already circulating among artists, activists, and media practitioners while giving those concerns a distinctive editorial and visual form. Publishing and editorial work became associated with Raindance Corporation, an informal collective of videographers and other like-minded practitioners. The group was not a conventional company with a fixed staff, and not every Raindance participant worked directly on the journal. Over time, Raindance assumed responsibility for editing the publication. Michael Shamberg and Dudley Evenson co-edited the fifth issue, while Dean Evenson supplied written and graphic technical material. Ira Schneider contributed organizational support through the mailing list and editorial advice, and was later recognized as part of the journal's founding circle even though he did not edit the original issues. The editorial structure changed after the beginning of the third issue. Schneider and Korot became editors, and disagreements over editorial direction created a break with the publication's initial approach. Gershuny left during this period. Subsequent issues were assigned to different groups, producing further changes in format, emphasis, and editorial voice. The shifts reflected the collaborative but unsettled character of early alternative-video publishing. Radical Software ended after eleven issues when Raindance Corporation folded in 1974. Its short publishing life nevertheless gave it a lasting role in the history of video art and alternative media. The journal helped establish a vocabulary for understanding video as a decentralized communications medium and remains a reference point for scholarship and archival work on experimental media culture.

• 1974

  Publication ends after eleven issues

  [1]Radical Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  Radical Software ceased publication when Raindance Corporation folded.

• 1970

  Journal founded in New York City

  [1]Radical Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  Phyllis Gershuny and Beryl Korot began Radical Software as a journal examining video as an artistic, political, and grassroots communications medium.

• 1970

  Questionnaire-based first issue released

  [1]Radical Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  The inaugural issue edited responses to a broad questionnaire and added special articles, establishing the journal's experimental approach to information and media.

• Raindance Corporation assumes editorial control

  [1]Radical Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  The loosely organized Raindance group took over the journal's editing and publishing activities as the project developed.

• Editorial direction changes after issue three began

  [1]Radical Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  Beryl Korot and Ira Schneider became editors, and a dispute over the journal's direction led to a split from the original editorial vision and Phyllis Gershuny's departure.

An experimental alternative-media publication positioned video as a participatory artistic and political communications technology, outside the prevailing broadcast and corporate-media system.

• Alternative-media periodical · 1970

  Radical Software video journal

  The publication's principal offering was a short-run journal about experimental video and alternative communications. Its contents combined essays, edited responses, technical material, visual experiments, and political discussion. Rather than treating video solely as a production technology, the journal examined how communities could use it to create and distribute information outside established broadcasters and corporate media. Eleven issues were produced from 1970 until the publication ended in 1974.

• 1970

  Adopt an experimental, questionnaire-based editorial formatStrategy

  Background

  The founders wanted the journal to examine not only video production but also the political implications of information circulation and media control.

  Action taken

  They built the first issue from responses to a broad questionnaire, reshaping the material through creative editing and adding special articles.

  Aftermath

  The approach established Radical Software as an unconventional forum for alternative-video ideas and grassroots communications.

  Source

• Shift editorial control toward Raindance CorporationStrategy

  Background

  As the journal developed, its work became connected with the broader network of videographers and media practitioners organized around Raindance Corporation.

  Action taken

  Raindance assumed responsibility for editing and publishing, with different collaborators handling later issues.

  Aftermath

  The publication gained a wider collective base but experienced changes in format and direction before ending in 1974.

  Source

1. 1Radical Softwareen.wikipedia.org