1968 was an important year for video based artists because that was the year that Sony introduced to the market the consumer level video camera which was self-contained and battery0powered. This new, affordable device allowed a new generation of artists access to the world’s most powerful medium. Jesse Drew’s article is about the new struggle of video based artists to fit into the boundaries that defined video “art.” Before the invention of the hand held camera, there were already artists using video based work and these were the artists that set up the boundaries for what would later be considered the rules of video based art. Many of the critics and gallery curators considered video based art to be about form and aesthetic and often ignored work that was “political.” Socially concerned work was not particularly favored and thus dismissed. Another concern about the new video work that was appearing in the art scene was that much of the work was done collectively. The idea of the collective in art production was somewhat problematic because the idea of the individual “genius” was hard to distinguish along with the question of authorship and ownership.
The Collective idea of an artistic group was somewhat of a lifestyle for these artists. Their work was not strictly associated with their careers as artists, but it was also attached to their lifestyle. These people worked together without any hierarchy of members. Each individual was considered an equal. Many of the individuals who belonged to a collective often lived together. Collectives were considered a loosely associated group of like-minded individuals who worked together towards a common goal. The common goal of these artists was seen to encompass a way of distributing their work among their peers and sharing information about their ideas. It was about community within the media. These artists produced an alternative to the popular media run by big broadcasting companies within society.
Some examples of contemporary media sharing and information sharing would be websites such as Flickr, youtube, ares, and blog sites. All of these media sharing websites are possible because of the internet. The internet has allowed individuals to post information and share media with other people in the virtual community for free. Websites such as MySpace allow individuals to post their music as a way of promoting themselves as up and coming musicians. Youtube allows any individual to post a video they have created and share it with the world. The internet has become a space beyond the exhibition and the gallery and has become an inexpensive way for individuals to share knowledge. Although in recent years the internet has been a valuable resource, there are some problems; any individual can post whatever they like without any discretion. Access to the internet is open to anyone, which can be problematic when it comes to the authenticity of the work. These are some of the same problems that the video collectives faces; the idea of authorship.
Laura
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