The Video Pool Media Arts Centre has teamed up with the Winnipeg Art Gallery to showcase some truly inspired and whacked-out videos made by some of our province's most incendiary visual artists.

The hope is to make this video showcase a monthly event, and the first evening has been assembled by local artist Hope Peterson. She has combed through the vaults of Video Pool and its 1,800-tape collection to showcase new-wave films that fit within the overriding theme of "homegrown countercultural weirdness."

With provocative titles such as Anarchist Weekly (Al Rushton), Johnny Zhivago (Michael Drabot and The Vengeance Phonographic Society), and Polytechnic World (Rick Raxlen), Peterson's lineup promises to turn heads and stimulate conversation.

Considering the years in which these shorts were made - 1981 to 1986 - you'll appreciate the lo-fi appearance that was exclusive to the first consumer camcorders on the market. Crisper in some respects with absolutely no pixilation, these works are nevertheless charmingly retro compared to videos shot on the palm-sized digital wonders of today.

Although most of the shorts can be considered experimental or abstract, there is one narrative-driven entry: Clark Nikolai's Sinfonia Domestica, from 1985.

It's a 20-minute minimalist tale featuring Sheila Urbanowski as a somewhat deranged woman with a mannequin roommate named Mary. With screechy voice and an eye-popping floral-print dress, Sheila's character attempts to ingratiate Mary into the flabbergasted company of her human friends. All is well until Mary is unexpectedly knocked up (depicted with the words painted on her abdomen), and Sheila feels utterly betrayed.

Don't be surprised if you're reminded of Baltimore's "Prince of Puke" John Waters while watching: the reference to the unborn baby's chances of growing up to be a Pink Flamingo is surely a tip of the, uh, barf bag.

Director Nikolai shoots everything in sustained masters, enabling the audience to soak up the chintzy artifacts displayed inside the cluttered apartment.

If Sinfonia Domestica is any indication, the rest of the program will delight those in for a bit of good. ol' fashioned shock value.

DANGEROUS HEADBANDS: NEW-WAVE VIDEOS FROM THE VAULT
April 16, 7 p.m., Winnipeg Art Gallery