HomeJane Steuerwald film/video artist
Terrorist Activity Radio Hour 
Jane Steuerwald & Henry W Baker 
2009 

On December 8th, 1980 John Lennon was killed by an assassin. On March 30th, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot, and on May 25th, 1981, there was an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. In response to these events, and in light of the devastating rise of terrorism around the world, video artists Henry Baker and Jane Steuerwald created a live radio performance piece on WAER-FM in Syracuse, NY. Working with filmmaker and Syracuse University professor, O. Charles Giordano, they combined live call-ins, music, interviews, dramatic readings, sound effects and narration to create a multi-layered work.

Today, even the word terrorism is politically charged. There are almost as many definitions as there are acts of violence perpetrated by terrorists. Baker and Steuerwald integrate their sound performance with film and video footage, digital imagery, appropriated news footage, text, and political icons investigating the impact of terrorism in the experience of the 21st century. Found footage of US soldiers drilling, marching, and preparing for wartime in the 1940’s is integrated and layered with television and film images of violence and personal terror. Multi-layered images of fluid color and pattern explode into acts of violence triggered by musical cues and Hollywood clichés. The political, the philosophical, the satirical, the visceral, and the tumultuous are united in this image/sound collage.