U35/ LO1

What is video art?In this task I will be defining and exploring video art and what it is.

Internet definition: Video art is an art form, which relies on moving pictures in a visual and audio medium. Video art came into existence during the late 1960s and early 1970s as new consumer video technology became available outside corporate broadcasting. (https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=what%20is%20video%20art%3F ) Author: Google 21/04/16

My definition: Video art is a video with an artistic and experimental edge. It can include either a visual or audio aspect or both.

Video art is a genre, which is known as a ‘new type of contemporary art’. It originates from experimental artists such as Andy Warhol, Wolf Vostell and Nam June Paik.( http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/video-art.htm )- 4/05/16

Andy WarholAndrew Warhola was born August 6th 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Warhol’s interest in art first began at the age of 8 when he contracted Chorea, which left him bedridden for several months. It was during these months that his mother who was also a keen artist gave him his first drawing lessons. This began Warhol’s keen interest in art and drawing ended up being his favourite way of passing time, his interest in art also eventually extended to photography when his mother bought him a camera at the age of 9. (http://www.biography.com/people/andy-warhol-9523875#artistic-career ) Although Andy Warhol was mainly known for his pop art work he also dabbled in the world of experimental films. He focused on a range of different actions including kissing in his film ‘Kiss’ (1963). But Warhol’s films took an even more simplistic route especially in his screen tests. His third screen test with Edie Sedwick is so simple, no sound, no cutaways, simply the camera focused on Edie herself. What makes this video artistic is that the whole three-minute clip focused on Edie’s natural reactions e.g blinking and staring, the most

simple actions are almost uncomfortable to watch because she is staring directly at us. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLW_sXv44Uc )11/5/16 It is a very experimental piece because in most films you have to keep the viewer visual and mentally stimulated at all times, however the screen tests put forward the idea that the most simplistic ideas can keep a viewer engaged also. I found Edie Sedwick so intriguing in this video, you almost feel like she is directly stood in front of you staring at you.

Another video of Warhol’s that caught my eye was the 1965 ‘‘Poor Little Rich Girl’’ starring again Edie Sedgwick. This particular scene follows a young socialite in her New York apartment, as the viewer watches her put her makeup on, get dressed and talk to people off camera. However the first reel of the film is out of focus and initially Warhol reshot it, but when it came to the editing stage Warhol decided to keep the blurred out of focus reel in the film. I find this interesting because it makes the image quite distorted and it means as the viewer you can only focus on key images. The blurred images almost leave some details for the viewer to decide, it also makes the scene of Sedgwick in nothing but her underwear slightly more tasteful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WcYY4WU7wM 26/05/16

Wolf VostellWolf Vostell was born on the 14th October 1932 in Leverkusen, Germany. First putting his artistic ideas into practice in 1950, he began an apprenticeship as a lithographer and studied at the Academy of Applied Art in Wuppertal in 1953. It wasn’t until 10 years later in 1963 Vostell became a oioneer of video art and installation from his work 6 TV DE-collage shown at the Smollin Gallery in New york. Vostell also liked to integrate real life issues into his work, for example his 1967 Miss Vietnam dealt with the subject of the Vietnam War. http://www.argosarts.org/artist.jsp?artistid=bed173eebeb74cdcbb84c6da1fe97c2b 26/05/16

Wolf Vostell was the first person in art history to integrate a television set into a work of art. For example in ‘E.d.H.R’ (1968) part of the video shows three televisions all with fuzzy screens whikst a loud noise plays in the background, it almost gives the impression of a manic scenario. The video includes a lot of loud machinery each adding to the somewhat manic impression, which may leave the

viewer unsure where to look. Something else I noticed is that many of the clips are played over and over again which gives it a repetitive tone, the only difference throughout the video is that the cuts between the clips get faster suggesting an even more ‘manic’ situation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzGsVbSdD3k 26/05/16A final think to link back to my original point is that Vostell seems to have a pattern of using more heightened sound in his videos than the image itself. In his 1968 ‘elektronischer dé-coll/age. happening raum’ there is a distinct noise of glass being crushed and then poured whilst the image is just a distorted still of a mans face. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gtEAt1futs 26/05/16

Nam June PaikNam June Paik was born in 1932 in Seoul, Korea, but later moved to Germany in 1956 and then New York in 1964 to pursue his study of music. Upon his arrival into Germany and New York quickly gained collaborative relationships with American artists John Cage, Yoko Ono and Bill Viola, and spent most of his career which spanned over forty years in the United States. His pioneering vision has paved the way contemporary visual culture has formed over the years in both the United States and internationally. http://asiasociety.org/new-york/exhibitions/nam-june-paik-becoming-robot-1

Paik was quoted in 1969 explaining that he wanted “to shape the TV screen canvas as precisely as Leonardo, as freely as Picasso, as colourfully as Renoir, as profoundly as Mondrian, as violently as Pollock and as lyrically as Jasper Johns”. https://www.arts.gov/photos/nam-june-paik-artist-who-invented-video-art

From watching Nam June Paik’s videos I can clearly tell that he likes to incorporate both music and image at almost the same level. His video ‘Global Groove’ (1973) https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=7UXwhIQsYXY first gets your attention my having almost an announcement at the beginning about phone books, which will obviously catch the viewer’s attention. The music is then very happy and upbeat with distorted clips showing a man and a woman dancing in time to the beat. The images then distort even further into dancing blobs and also lights coming of the figures dancing. I think this is very

visually stimulating for the viewer and keeps them interested throughout watching. I think out of the three artists I have looked into Nam June Paik has the most both visually and mentally stimulating videos.

The use of technology and techniquesThe first video I found was on Youtube was called ‘Cut Copy Lights & Music’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5-SmngOoaQ The main focus of this music video is a person with different coloured paints all on their face. What makes this video so interesting and experimental is the reverse shot of the paint flying back off the persons face. This will have been done at the editing stage of production, the actual video will have been filmed the right way e.g the paint being poured on the persons face but would’ve then been reversed at the editing stage to create the illusion of the paint flying off the persons face.

The video has most likely been done using some kind of time-lapse software.

The second video I have decided to look at is Zayn- ‘Pillowtalk’, this music video is very interesting for the pop industry, many follow a certain structure whereas Zayn’s is simply full of eye catching effects used to enhance the viewer’s experience. Lighting was a key part of this video, for example when Zayn is in the room with a red light shining on him, although its just a red light it gives a strange feeling to it. The whole video has a very artistic and experimental vibe to it, many of the shots of Zayn with Gigi Hadid have been enhanced using editing software, sometimes to light them up and make them the focus of the shot. Or they were spun around with patterns surrounding them. Many of the shapes and

effects used in ‘Pillowtalk’ have been added at the editing stage I think the effects give the video a very futuristic style, everything featured in the video is distorted and slightly odd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_3d6GntKbk Narrative and non-narrative formsCarrying on with Zayn-‘Pillowtalk’ I think that this video does have a narrative form. Although you could argue it is open to interpretation the video clearly highlights two people (Zayn and Gigi) who are in love and only have eyes for each other. When the two of them are embracing each other in the dimly lit space and begin to spin you can see the clear connotations that they feel like the only two people in the world and are not aware of their surroundings. The video reflects them being in bubble and the strange objects and people in the video to me represent a different world their own land that they’ve possibly created.

Another example of a narrative form is Andy Warhol’s ‘Kiss (1963)’. Although a very simplistic narrative the whole video still follows the story of how a kiss progresses between two lovers. I almost feel that the simpler the narrative the stronger the message it keeps the viewers in almost an uncomfortable viewing experience as it isn’t a traditional narrative. There is no clear beginning middle and climatic ending it is more a documentation of natural progression. The mixture of couples gives the viewers a variety of kisses and levels of passion to view all whilst following the narrative of ‘two people kissing’.

Another music video with narrative form is The All American Rejects ‘Give you hell’. The video and song both have a clear message, it shows an outsider a guy at school who was most likely bullied by people like his neighbours next door, the classic all American couple. The song and video detail that every time they see his face he wants them to be reminded of how far he’s come in school compared to them and repeats ‘when you see my face hope it gives you hell’. The interesting part is the climatic end of the video where the two sets of neighbours end up coming together and essentially swap wives/girlfriends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxUATkpMQ8A

In contrast the experimental video ‘Oil’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNY4rUQ9YLM has no real narrative behind it. It is much more an open to interpretation, you are essentially watching particles of oil floating around. There is however something relaxing about a non-narrative form, it allows your mind to relax and opens it up to different angles or focus points

you may not have noticed with a regular narrative where you’re told the story.

Another music video with a non -narrative form is in the music video ‘Pendulum’. The video is very simplistic, it is a variety of clever lighting and effects used in time to the beat of the music. This idea is very visually stimulating to watch as a viewer and the fact that the video is only 2 minutes 35 seconds long is a good way of keeping the audience watching until the end and wanting more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLMjkNyG7u8

Use of exhibition space to create meaningYou can create an atmosphere and meaning for your video by the way you present your exhibition space. You may want to have a nice bright room to express your sad angry video to intrigue the audience. Or in contrast have a dark dingy room with an oddly happy video could create a creepy atmosphere for the audience.

The relation of work to your own ideas After researching Andy Warhol for this task I am very interested in the way he creates a live set with real people. In ‘Kiss (1963) it shows multiple people kissing on a set. Although I wouldn’t want to do this exact idea, I like the idea of a live video art set with actors etc. It gives the audience a live artistic vision something they might have never seen before. I also like the idea of having a dark room with simplistic video possibly like Andy Warhol’s screen tests so the room almost has an uncomfortable atmosphere.

A key part of video art is an audience’s response, leaving your video open to interpretation is a good way to attract a wide audience. An audience is bound to respond better to something they are free to interpret rather than something they’re told to believe. Also a video that doesn’t have a clear narrative is also a lot of the time more intriguing to watch.