The Development of Video Art

From the perspective of technical development, in 195 1 year, Ampex Company of the United States first developed a video recorder (VTR) to record and play programs with a two-inch wide tape, and in 1965, Sony disc portable black-and-white camera system (half-inch video tape, spiral scanning, transistor video recorder) was introduced.

1970 The introduction of the three-quarter inch video recorder system has also increased the video recorder's editing and camera shooting functions using portable rechargeable batteries, which has become a professional standard.

1972 Philips launched a half-inch cassette home video recorder, which opened up the home video market. After that, Sony's Betamax system and Japan's Panasonic's VHS system occupied a considerable market in home video equipment.

In the early1980s, home video recorders had many functions, including rotation, freeze frame, remote control, slow motion, fast rewind and digital timer. It is quite convenient to edit and copy videos, which reserves creative space for artists. When the video recorder developed from a bulky commercial machine to a cheap and ever-changing portable machine, artists began to try to use this new media to create.

1962, American communication TV satellite was launched, a large number of media news circulated, and TV culture invaded every household; After the popularization of television, it promoted the commercialization market of peripheral equipment, and video recorders and small cameras also developed into cheap household appliances. Artists immediately smelled this new creative medium. The first work using television as the medium of artistic creation was held in 1963 by NamJune Paik, a Korean-American artist, at the panas Gallery in Wuberto, Germany (1932-). At that time, he distorted the reception effect of TV programs and scattered the TV sets up or sideways around the room. At the same time, he also made a video of the interaction between the audience and the media, which reversed the relationship between the two. These early experimental works opened the first step for him to introduce electronic images into the art field for more than 30 years.

The original video art was based on TV, which was a work derived from criticizing the stereotypes of TV programs.

Stimulated by the media age, the concept of image art in the 1960s gradually became a media against the media. Artists have changed the original coding system of "TV" and organized the creation of "art coding" by using multimedia forms such as TV/video/performance.

The simplification of video art can be said to be the primary stage of thinking. The whole mechanism system is based on TV, no matter how much the creative form changes, it will eventually return to the origin of TV (machine). Artists are trying to change the familiar "TV image", from the initial image production and release to the creation of devices; After that, the visual art formed by multimedia fusion made the video art form an independent development system.

The appearance of "video projector" in the 1970s began to be widely used by video artists as a medium for publishing their works, which changed the definition of "TV system" in traditional video art, which was not converted by TV or monitor.

The image projected by electronic color light is only a watershed with the previous stage of image art. The creation based on "image" is not limited to the criticism of regional media, but a more independent artistic style. In the early 1960s, when video was discovered as a new art medium, there were many composers, sculptors and poets. Except the image creator. With the pulse of technology and society, video art is developing in the direction of extremely diverse media culture; Forms of expression can be divided into several items:

(A) the visual image form

At the end of 1960s, video art actively explored the possibility of this electronic media as a tool to create fresh aesthetic feeling. The main way of expression is to control the synthesis of video images by computer. Or divide the picture into several stages according to the level of light and dark, and make a dynamic and semi-abstract picture performance corresponding to the appropriate colors respectively.

During the period of 1970, due to the positive development of electronic audio synthesis instruments, video art combined music with video, which made the performance of video art develop by leaps and bounds, among which MTV, a video music program with exquisite audio-visual effects, was developed. The visual effects created by artists are stolen and imitated by commercial advertisements and TV programs.

1980s, the digital image synthesis technology developed in the field of computer graphics appeared. At the same time, the image performance (image poetry and image painting) with the connotation and characteristics of poetry or painting taken by the camera can not be ignored.

Image art intrudes into poetry, novel or drama, transcends the boundaries of art in the field of traditional language or writing, and expands the scope of image expression to more diversified artistic fields.

Social media criticism

1965 The development of Sony portable video recorder gave artists the autonomy to control the presentation of pictures. The reason is that it is easy to carry, it extends the recorded field of view outside the studio, and the image can be developed immediately without developing.

From 1960s to 1970s, artists who cared about the social environment and criticized the one-way and exclusiveness of mass media tried to explore new communication channels by using video technology. Or topic tracking to explore topics that are not extracted from mass media. For example, 1975, T. R. Uthco and ant farm-ChipLord, Doug Michels, Judy Porcter made "Eternal Frame" with 8mm film, and then created the scene of Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, which is an indirect adjustment or adjustment.

(C) the combination of performing arts and conceptual arts

Following the early event art and event art, the performance art that appeared after1970s made artists become actors and improvise daily behaviors. When the audience is often asked to perform at the same time, it forms a whole environment with other objects on the scene as a form of expression.

Its overall characteristics are: regarding the body as a performance material (object), attaching importance to dialogue with the public, often taking the form of ritual, with strong dramatic elements. Like conceptual art, it appeared at the end of 1960' s, and it is an artistic expression form that attaches importance to behavior and is restricted by specific time factors. Video technology has played a role in recording, preserving, spreading, reconstructing and re-expressing works. Therefore, performing arts and conceptual arts often use video technology, which is closely related to video art.

(D) Image expression in installation art

The way of expression is to form the whole exhibition space (environment) with cameras and video recorders or computer equipment, and the audience directly participates in the overall composition of the work. The image shot by the camera is directly displayed on the display, or the viewer interacts with the work through the sensor, which actually shows the state of the set place of the work; The audience's shadow and behavior are also instantly displayed on the display, and the composition of this work is generally called "the image device in which the audience participates".

In addition, multiple monitors can be used to form a three-dimensional shape. Daily televisions (monitors) can be hung on the ceiling, placed on the ground, or combined with natural materials such as stones and plants. Even combined with environmental music, it guides viewers to integrate into the display environment. Become a video sculpture that can convey dynamic information.

With the development of technology and equipment, the distribution forms of video recording equipment become more diversified. The use of projection equipment and digital multi-machine display not only makes the scale of image presentation exceed the size of traditional TV. But also breaks through the shape and proportion of the TV set; The digital function of the latter can be used to divide and combine images flexibly, and the presentation of images is more dynamic, which provides more performance space for creators in the scale and composition of works.

In 1970s, the western image art was generally limited by equipment and tended to form and convey ideas. In the early 1980s, a technology-oriented video artist appeared. No matter which comes first, the concept and technology, the video art has impacted the popular culture from the 1970s to the mid-1980s, especially the influence of TV advertisements and MTV music festivals, in which the cutting, discontinuous jumping, surreal and thrilling pictures, repeated shots, unconventional modeling and ideological visualization techniques presented in the pictures have all been misappropriated by commercial TV programs (Min 83).

Since the mid-1980s, video art has been closely combined with computers, which has opened up a virtual reality for images, which is an unprecedented cognitive experience. In 1970s, artists expanded their artistic vocabulary with limited funds and equipment. In 1990s, a new generation of artists used high-tech equipment and technology to create comprehensive works. The name of video art can no longer cover a variety of creative forms. In its independent aesthetic field, it is combined with more art forms to form "media art" and "video" itself is a visual medium. When visual and plastic artists use this medium, it becomes video art ... It is a new form independent of traditional art, as NamJune Paik said: When he is doing video art, does he want to make electronic images as wild as Picasso, as lyrical as Rehnova, as rational as Kandinsky, or for Bill? Viola, picking up the camera and walking down the street, the process of betting is exactly the same as painting oil paintings (Yuan Guangming, Min 88).

NamJune Paik introduced the scientific and technological invention "electronic image" into the art field, manipulated the advanced and avant-garde media by artistic means, and combined it with the social pulse and humanistic spirit at that time, injecting new strength into contemporary art. When there was a breakthrough in the new field of science and technology, the ever-changing multimedia constantly formed a new cognitive world, and new technology enhanced the superiority of the image media, transforming the relationship between scientific and technological media and art from a simple auxiliary tool to a subjective one with complete system and great potential. The creation of media artists also actively tries to change the general form of information and create new artistic expressions and new aesthetics.

After 1970, high-tech products developed rapidly, such as computers, laser beams, fax machines, photocopiers and satellite communications. These cutting-edge science and technology have become creative tools to create imagination and structure. These new media can simulate the real world and create various landscapes in the fantasy field. While the creation of video art is more and more closely related to the development of science and technology, the on-demand technical nature in the process of creating works makes artists have to rely on more scientific and technological tools to complete their works, and the control right of creation is more vague.

Since 1980s, the biggest impact on video art is the intervention of "computer", which has almost disintegrated all the traditional theories about the formation of video art; And give images new ways of communication, such as Internet, virtual reality, video conference, etc. In the past, the original image shot by electronic camera was no longer the "text" of the work, and the reconstructed image digitized by computer was only a part of the system, and this "digitization process" was the main body of the image work. When artists use emerging media, they combine the cooperation of more cultural circles, such as musicians, performing artists and dancers, which makes the creative activities of video art enter another discussion space. The name of "video art" can no longer satisfy the form of multimedia creation, and the definition of "media" has changed from a noun to a concept. The limitations and characteristics of using scientific and technological media to create artistic media are as follows:

First, it can't be processed by hand, and images can only be presented by mechanical equipment (projector, TV, computer or projector).

Second, the presentation quality is absolutely related to the scientific and technological equipment used, which directly affects the presentation effect of the works. If the image must be shot with a camera and played with a player, the camera and the player will directly affect the image quality.

Third, the works are mixed with media and objects (electrical appliances) to test pure art.

Fourth, the creative technology is too professional, and the artist must cooperate with the engineer to complete the work.

5. The presentation of works is limited by exhibition space and equipment.

Characteristics of media artistic creation:

1. Artists can change their visual space at will through scientific and technological equipment.

Secondly, through image editing, it is easy to manipulate, reorganize and compress time and change the linearity of time.

3. Sound and images can be copied and modified infinitely, and works can be displayed in many places at the same time.

4. Real-time and interactive recording and playback.

5. Mix and match at will to create new meanings. For example, video can describe the truth, or recombine a sound and image to change the original intention.

6. Media art in a broad sense includes video art, sound art, video installation art, video projection device, interactive art, mechanical art, lighting art, photography, film and performance. In the high-tech integration of art media, the so-called scientific and technological art is also included. The appearance of electronic media makes the media that artists relied on as a way to pursue the perfection of their works before the 20th century obsolete. Even in modern times, artists are constantly using mixed materials and new electronic technology media to express their artistic views in the new century.

When video becomes an art, it is based on complex and professional knowledge. Artists should not only have aesthetic quality, but also learn to use new scientific and technological media and professional knowledge. Today, the image art is not only to express the content of the image, but to combine the image with sound art, installation art, image projection device, interactive art, mechanical art, lighting art, photography, performance and high-tech equipment to form a composite media art; In creation, artists should not only have the skills and connotation of photographers, but also have the cultivation of film directors to interpret scripts; When combining other art forms, we must have the characteristics of other fields and pay attention to the balance of formal expression. Therefore, before creating media art, we must understand the development of art and the characteristics of media materials, and pay more attention to the expression of aesthetic feeling. The role of artistic creation has also changed from "operation" to "understanding"; Modern video artists must provide complete "ideas" and lead the reconstruction and integration of various media.