Video art was also called “expanded cinema” because it seemed to be an extension of moving images, but introducing different languages such as theatre, performances, photography, painting, etc, being very disruptive in the way of making videos at the time.  This dynamic “challenged the role of the passive spectator", and it was also a way to document performances. 

The etymology of the word video is quite interesting. It comes from the Latin verb 'videre' which means "to see". Thus, video art means "to see art". I found it very beautiful and deep. 

This is a very introductory video, which was important to have a general idea of what it is about. And there are plenty of references regarding artists who started with this practice, the ones who continued and the ones who are related somehow to it. Some examples: Nam June Paik, Shigeko Kubota, Joan Jonas, Joseph Beuys, Martha Roster, Carolee Schneemann, Allan Kaprow, Eleanor Anton, Vito Acconi, Bruce Nauman, Anthony McCall, Dara Birnbaum, Hélio Oiticica, Ernst Caramelle, Howardena Pindell, Petra Cortright, Isaac Julien, Cory Arcangel, Guy Ben Ner. These are clues to find out a little bit more about video art. 

Because he interweaves with those different media, his works become extremely powerful, full of different layers of comprehension and textures.

It is quite interesting the projection of his round graphic paintings in a vast space. They remind me of Len Lye’s works but way less colorful. This idea of destroying the work to create another one is fascinating (as we did in the Believing is Seeing project). He used to burn and scratch some slices of his paintings when he was a painter and a sculptor. He also used to paint on the glass slide cases and projecting them. Seeing all the images juxtaposing each other creates a surprising and intriguing effect on the screen.

In this video, we can have an idea of what his works look like. 

“The [1973] event consisted of nine participants (including the artist Bill Viola and the curator David Ross) meditating with their backs to the audience. A row of nine video monitors positioned between the meditators and the audience allowed spectators to view the faces of the performers on closed-circuit television while shadows of the public animated the wall behind. 

Those participating in meditation were provided with sensors to monitor the alpha waves generated by their brain activity. When a certain level of neuronal energy was achieved, the sensors triggered the transmission of pre-recorded quotations from Plato’s Dialogues to headphones worn by each performer.”

I like the way the participants are interacting. The ones who are being recorded; and the ones who are seeing the recording, and are projecting their shadows on the wall. These have a sort of “presence without being seeing”. The use of the shadow as a projection is quite clever. 

Downey also worked with what he called ‘invisible architecture’, a term he defines as “an attitude of total communication within which ultra-developed minds will be telepathically cellular to an electromagnetic whole”. 

Plato Now, and his other works, presents a well-developed concept sustained by many theoretical discussions about the relationship we have with information. I like how complex and well-developed his sketch from this work is; how every detail is thought carefully and arbitrarily. It is intriguing the change of the title from “Plato revisited” to “Plato Now”. The first one coveys more as an idea of a re-enactment of Plato’s Cave; the second conveys that this platonic idea of image and truth never let to be part of our society. It has been intrinsically present for us, a canon. 

sources:
https://himexhibition.wordpress.com/portfolio-2/performance-art/v-influences/the-tanks-julian-downey-plato-now/
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/juan-downey
https://hyperallergic.com/411469/juan-downey-radiant-nature-los-angeles-contemporary-exhibitions-2017/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa4RIyDatO8&feature=emb_title

I really enjoy seeing Stauber’s works. They always look so glitchy, trippy and funny. I like the simple songs with the VHS quality. Here in this website, he explains his process, how he transforms online animation (MS Paint and Adobe Premiere) giving an analogue aspect for it by using a VHS recorder: https://imgur.com/gallery/U6umr

The Tanks provide a permanent gallery for live art, performances and a film and video work from the Tate collection. There is also a programme of new commissions of works made for the specific spaces.

The Tanks were previously used to store oil when the gallery was a power station. These huge circular spaces in the foundations of the Blavatnik Building have kept their rough, industrial feel to now house new art. No longer generating electricity, the Tanks generate ideas, creative energy and new possibilities for artists and audiences. These raw, industrial, subterranean spaces, each measuring over thirty metres across and seven metres high are the world’s first museum galleries permanently dedicated to exhibiting live art, performance, installation and film."

Jonas plays with the audience as well. The image of them or everything that surrounds them is reflected creating a sort of interaction. Space also becomes a spectator and a participant. 

The first two paragraphs talk about her famous Mirror Pieces and the way Jonas relates to the mirror conceptually, unconsciously, and philosophically. I separate some quotes, I found them interesting: 

“Mirrors and poetry, as well as myth and fairytales, refract reality in unexpected ways”

“Mirrors can collapse or confuse the distance between performer and audience and disrupt visual frameworks.”

She also tells us the influences she had on Jorge Luis Borges’ texts. And, how his writings became part of the text read at the beginning of Mirror Piece I.  “I don’t change the language, but rather I change the context, which opens up the text to different possibilities of meaning. I don’t illustrate; I juxtapose.”

For me, these photographic series are so strong and even shocking. Ana Mendieta always works with the exploration of women bodies confronting the issues present in feminist discussions. I think in these two works, she goes deeper in questioning the beauty patterns, and the photographs are a reflection of it. 

https://icamiami.org/collection/ana-mendieta-untitled-glass-on-face-1972/

https://icamiami.org/collection/ana-mendieta-untitled-glass-on-body-1972/

TATE (2018) Does Performance Art Need to be Experience Live?. [Online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ObKMT27_0&feature=emb_title [Accessed: 20 February 2021] 

TATE (n. d.) Expanded Cinema. [Online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/e/expanded-cinema [Accessed: 20 February 2021] 

TATE (2009) What is Expanded Cinema?. [Online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDJqA6jOXYw&feature=emb_title [Accessed: 20 February 2021]

TATE (2012) Aldo Tambellini | The Tanks. [Online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwLJtAeYy3k&feature=emb_title [Accessed: 20 February 2021] 

Byrne, D. (2008) Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime (Official Video). [Online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IsSpAOD6K8&feature=emb_title [Accessed: 20 February 2021]

Stauber, J. (2018) Peppermint. [Online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtTBqIAQ434 [Accessed: 20 February 2021] 

Stauber, J. (2018) MS Paint ANIMATION PROCESS. [Online video] Available at: https://imgur.com/gallery/U6umr [Accessed: 20 February 2021] 

MONOSKOP (2021) Expanded Cinema. [Online] Available at: https://monoskop.org/Expanded_cinema [Accessed: 21 February 2021] 

TATE (2012) Juan Downey - Plato Now | The tanks. [Online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa4RIyDatO8&feature=emb_title [Accessed: 21 February 2021] 

KULTURHUSET STADSTEATERN (2010) Mirror Piece I: Reconfigured (1969/2010). [Online video] Available at: https://vimeo.com/77162791 [Accessed: 21 February 2021] 

Trotman, N. (n.d.) Joan Jonas Mirror Piece I. [Online] Available at: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/24749 [Accessed: 21 February 2021] 

Jonas, J. (2018) Mirror mirror: Joan Jonas on the fairytales that have cast a spell over her 50-year career. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/mar/22/joan-jonas-exhibition-tate-modern-london [Accessed: 21 February 2021]

ICAMIAMI (n.d.) Ana Mendieta Untitled (Glass on Face), 1972. [Online] Available at: https://icamiami.org/collection/ana-mendieta-untitled-glass-on-face-1972/ [Accessed: 21 February 2021] 

ICAMIAMI (n.d.) Ana Mendieta Untitled (Glass on Body), 1972. [Online] Available at: https://icamiami.org/collection/ana-mendieta-untitled-glass-on-body-1972/[Accessed: 21 February 2021] 

Oursler, T. (n.d.) [Online] Available at: https://tonyoursler.com/ [Accessed: 21 February 2021]

Youngblood, G. (1970) 

The second outcome students will explore identity as the main theme, investigating self-image through video and other reflecting mediums. As a group, you will produce a piece of moving image to be displayed in a range of different surfaces  considering the composition of the space, dimensions and time duration of the piece.

The first outcome, after the extensive research is completed, students must find a way to present a video to their peers showing their research process, using the editing techniques that best illustrates it.

The second outcome students will explore identity as the main theme, investigating self-image through video and other reflecting mediums. As a group, we will produce a piece of moving image to be displayed in a range of different surfaces  considering the composition of the space, dimensions and time duration of the piece.