Video, Time, Space, Motion

I think that it is often taken for granted in this modern age how the ubiquity of images and information, particularly video has changed the way we perceive the world. When an event happens in the center of Times Square to the corner of a dark alley, it seems that somehow, a camera is there to capture it. From there it is viewed nearly instantaneously by millions on You Tube, or some similar edifice. 

When we seek some information about any range of subjects, we almost immediately seek the answer with a cursory Google search. It's more of a surprise these days when we cannot find something that we seek through these means. Everything just seems to be at our fingertips. 

And so as we consider how to use video in our work, it is necessary not just to consider it as tool to tell a story or make a piece of art, but it can be much more, or less than that. It is important to look at its inherent qualities in order to fully appreciate how it can be used. 

Margot Lovejoy's article, Digital Currents: Art In The Electronic Age, addresses some interesting aspects of video as it has evolved and developed into a distinct artistic medium. She really gets at this immediacy of video. There is no time needed to wait and see what the camera has recorded. There are possibilities for edited work, real time, closed circuit systems, television broadcasts, DVD or video tape, and now the internet.

She raises the issues that come with these choices. For instance, in order to place art on broadcast television, it must not simply take the approach of the esoteric, conceptual piece, but rather it must be entertaining in order to have a chance of gaining an audience. There are also commercial concerns associated with broadcast, from the costs to the influence of corporate interests. Can you imagine some of these conceptual or performance pieces being broadcast on a major network during prime time, or at any time for that matter? 

The internet presents an interesting case because it is much more free from the commercial aspects than television, but honing in on the audience you want to reach is also more challenging.

Whatever means are used to disseminate the work, the use of video has its inherent advantages, particularly for exploratory work. There is indeed a sense of intimacy with video, and a more pedestrian quality to it. There is not the need for all of the lighting and artifice associated with film. And of course it is cheap, and can be readily worked with and manipulated without a great deal of expensive equipment. It has made the medium more accessible, but by no means easier to successfully accomplish interesting and thought provoking work.

Ultimately, whether work is done with an experimental/avant garde approach or more traditional, these aspects can be useful in finding a way to communicate something visually that is quite original.