User:ClassProject Dani09

Video in Contemporary Art
Video Art is a new form of contemporary art. The movement was indicated in the late 1960’s[1]. It has been said that this movement of contemporary art was initiated by Nam June Paik, Wolf Vostell, and Andy Warhol[1].

One of the first established pieces of video art was created by Wolf Vostell[1]. Wolf Vostell was the first to include working video sets in his 1959 assemblage called ‘Deutscher Ausblick’[2]. However, it has been often told that Nam June Paik was the one to have begun Video Art when he shot footage of Pope Paul VI’s procession through New York City in 1965 [1]. Andy Warhol also made a number of films. The most representative of his works was ‘Sleep’ which was created in 1963, where it filmed a poet named John Giorno sleeping for 6 hours [2].

Video Art is usually presented in two basic varieties, single-channel and installation. Single-channel installation is projected by a series of single images [1]. The most commonly used, installation is where the video is comprised of either an environment or area made of several pieces of film that are screened simultaneously, or sometimes a combination of film with Assemblage, or a performance piece [1].

Video Art is far more different then the idea of cinema and filmmakers. A film maker’s goal is to establish a story, characters, and a thesis to their video; whether their video is for reality or for fictional purposes [1]. Unlike film makers, The Contemporary Video Artists aim is not for the film maker’s goal but for the video medium itself [1]. The challenge for a video artist is to play with viewer’s idea of space, form and time [1].

Other interesting artists to consider that have contributed to the Video Art movement are:

Peter Campus, who was at his peek in 1970 [3] He's known to be a key innovator in studio and camera work. Peter focused a lot on the technology aspect [3]. A most noted piece is called the Three Transitions [3] Bill Viola, known for his technical mastery in technical and creative imagery [3]. His genres tendencies are birth, love, death, and emotion drawing from Christianity, Islam, and Zen [3]