Elephants features excerpts of 1970s video from the counter-culture and by global artists and activists experimenting with the first amateur video gear. Drawn from VIVO's Archive, it highlights themes and genres found in the library of VIVO's original incarnation - the Video Inn (est.1973). Video Inn was both a reference library and facilitator of the international video exchange network. The network was an initiative of Intermedia member Michael Goldberg under the aegis of the Image Bank in 1971.

Excerpts include a message from Eldridge Cleaver about why the Black Panthers busted Timothy Leary in Algeria; an explanation of "visible" and "invisible" government, by Mae Brussell, a renowned anti-fascist conspiracy researcher; conceptual video; and early experiments with image manipulation, real time computer systems, and video synthesizers.

The exchange system strove to circulate alternative information globally. Producers were challenged by the physicality of the media and relying on mail and word of mouth to find like-minded individuals. The title of the screening draws a link between the ambitions of this pre-internet generation to the one that developed the earliest online video-sharing platforms. "Elephants" is the title of the first video posted on YouTube and produced by one of its founders.