«Gidget on the couch» (Peter Lunenfeld, Vectors 12.2, 2012) is a video version of an essay written for print, and reprinted in several issues. «[…] the version for Vectors, this most mediated of remediations, one in which the text is not illustrated so much as transmuted into a ‘media script’,» Lunenfeld writes in his introduction to the piece. What in fact Lunenefeld and his collaborators do, is to turn to another genre, the television documentary.

Any television viewer knows the recipe: We hear the producer (author?) talk, and see her or him walking and driving around, sometimes interviewing experts, sometimes visiting interesting places, sometimes both at the same time. Then there are, of course, a wealth of older documentary material, in this case, old photos and moving clips from Californian surf culture, especially the movie Gidget

What is different is that the themes are more philosophical than you would expect on TV. But they are not that difficult either. One would suspect Lunenfeld could do much more intricate and difficult arguments.

Both the accessability of the more philosophical points, and the lack of really difficult philosophy stems, I think, from the conversational tone. It sounds as if Lunenfeld has been interviewed, and answers in order to be understood, not to impress with subtle nuance and theoretical depth. This tone is, as Lunenfeld himself points out, the real achievement of this piece.

After only eleven minutes, the video stops. It is too short. Interesting themes are not developed. What was the connection to architecture, and to Vienna really. It seems like jus a coincidence. There is no balance between the different themes. Not really to much on «Gidget» the girl surfer, but way too little on the other themes.

Lunenfeld’s experiment of transmediation turns out to be an essay-turned-television, not essay-turned-web, but this is still an interesting project. Video essays are few and far between. This is a good one, but I wished for more.