What is “Art Video” ?

What is an Art Video? What distinguishes it from other types of video?

Generally, most videos purpose is to entertain or inform; art videos might do neither, but instead choose to explore the medium of video itself as an aim, making an artistic point or statement along the way.

Another distinction is that there might be no actors, dialogue, plot or other cinematic conventions in an art video. The video might be made instead for its own aesthetic qualities.

Art video often is low-tech – it’s not necessarily about high physical quality, but about the statement it’s making.. This is often done with readily available low budget consumer products, sometimes used in novel ways (such as overlapping two video signals).

Examples – these descriptions provide a feel for some types of techniques and issues explored in art video. You can see tiny clips by going to http://www.vdb.org/

Ani(fe)mal(e) – Hester Scheurwater Woman, monster, animal? A portrait of a woman's face, the movement slowed down and reversed, the grotesquely made-up face examined in close-up.

Time After Time   - Anri Sala Literally depicting Point of View, Sala stimulates the viewers' senses of sight and sound by forcing them to concentrate on a single puzzling image until it is revealed in a surprise ending.

Over My Shoulder – Douglas Gordon In Over My Shoulder, Gordon uses hand gesticulations against a white sheet to communicate both violent and sensual emotions.

El Gringo - Francis Alys In El Gringo, viewers experience the discomfort of being an outsider when the camera is confronted by a pack of snarling dogs.

Blind Spot - Gary Hill A short encounter between the artist and a man on a North African street is slowed down, forcing the viewer into an intimate relationship with the subject and the shifting emotion seen in his face.

Encore (Paradise Omeros: Redux) - Isaac Julien This work opens with rich, color-saturated images of Saint Lucia, where the film was shot and the birthplace of Julien's parents. A scene of violence interrupts this setting, and the piece suddenly moves to the dark, gray, dismal world of London. The juxtaposition between a dreamlike paradise and an industrial wasteland suggests a displacement, as does the footage throughout of the sea. This stunning film features the voice over of Noble prize winning poet and writer Derek Walcott, whose epic poem "Omeros" was an inspiration.

30 Seconds Hate - Bryan Boyce In 30 Seconds Hate, Fox News and Henry Kissinger want to kill you as a tribute to George Orwell's 100th birthday.

What's That Sound? – George Barber - Using as its starting point the film Airport '77, What's That Sound? Is a mesmerizing montage of questions, answers, and the cries and screams of people caught in a disaster movie, and a tribute to 20 years of Scratch Video.