WOOFY BUBBLES
This video showcases the "wild wearables" and surreal movements of Christopher Hodge as captured by Alan Powell's analog video lens in 1983.
Alan Powell - Woofy Bubbles (1983 recording)
Curated - Benton BainbridgeAlan Powell is a pioneering American visual and electronic media artist with a career spanning over fifty years. His work is characterized by an investigation into the intersection of art, politics, and the natural world, often utilizing experimental videography, multichannel installations, and digital photography.
Early Career: Powell earned his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1974 and an MFA from Rutgers University. He was a founding member of Electron Movers, one of Rhode Island's first Media Arts Centers.
Collaborations: For 30 years, he collaborated with his late partner, Connie Coleman, producing work that has been archived at Cornell University and exhibited at prestigious venues like The Kitchen, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris.
Academic & Community Leadership: He is a Professor Emeritus at Arcadia University and remains active as a board member for TermiteTV (a Philadelphia video collective) and Signal Culture.
https://www.inliquid.org/historic-journal/christopher-hodge-woofy-bubbles-the-woo
"Woo World" performances and the experimental videography that documented them during the early 1980s.
Woofy Bubbles (Christopher Hodge)
Woofy Bubbles was the stage name of Christopher Hodge, a prominent performance and textile artist active in the 1970s and 80s. He was a central figure in Philadelphia’s avant-garde scene, known for his surreal "Woo World" performances and vibrant, hand-signed wearable art.
Artist Statement & Philosophy
Hodge’s work was rooted in the concept of "Woo World"—an artistic landscape that merged natural shapes with surrealist fantasy. His "Woo World Players" donned abstract, multicolored costumes (often made of polar fleece) to act out mythic, caricature-driven realities.
The name "Woofy Bubbles" itself serves as a conceptual manifesto:
W: Represents the five perennial questions: Who, What, Where, Why, When.
OO: The two "seeing, searching eyes" that imply a continuum of discovery.
WOO: To court or seek a sympathetic relationship with the audience.
WOOF: The horizontal and vertical threads of weaving (referencing his textile background).
FY: To make, to do, or to imbue with life.
BUBBLES: Represents inflated speculation and the beauty of something lacking firmness of substance.
"I believe in wooing; in charming people through the metamorphosing images of the Woo World Players... [creating] a body of work designed for a sympathetic relationship with an audience." — Christopher Hodge (Woofy Bubbles)
Now at FEED MEDIA ART CENTER with a Curation by Benton Bainbridge
