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Video installation is a form of contemporary art that utilises both video technology and installation art. It makes use of all aspects of the surrounding environment so that it can affect the audience. Video installation will be found most often within museums; however, it is not limited here.

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Article

Video installation is a form of contemporary art that utilises both video technology and installation art. It makes use of all aspects of the surrounding environment so that it can affect the audience. Video installation will be found most often within museums; however, it is not limited here.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Video Installation

Chris Bennett
Video installation is a form of
contemporary art that utilises
both
video
technology
and
installation art. It makes use of all
aspects
of
the
surrounding
environment so that it can affect
the audience. Many artists use
this method of installation to
exhibit
their
work.
Video
installation will be found most
often within museums; however,
it is not limited here. Art galleries
tend to feature video installations
as artists find that this a way in
which their art can be bought to
life and captivates the audiences
interests more as opposed to just
having their art out on display. To
create the best effect a projector
is often used to display the art,
however televisions could also be
used with a video playing over it.
However, if a projector is used it
allows the artists to display their
art onto anything, including 3D
objects. By doing this the artists
can immerse the audience more
as the art is more interactive. In
The National Museum of Natural
History
at
the
Smithsonian
Institution in Washington DC there
is a giant sphere situated in the
middle of the room, with four
projectors projecting a video of
the Earth onto it. This creates the
effect that the audience are
watching the Earth spin in the
middle of the room.
Going
back
on
what
was
previously mentioned, TVs are
also a great way in which that
artists can exhibit their work. Vito
Acconci, one of the more famous
video installation artists, utilised
television to display his exhibition

Command
Performance.
The
concept for this exhibition comes
from the pressure from Acconcis
audience into performing for his
audience. He fantasized about a
dancing bear who performs in
the spotlight, doing what I
always had to do. The viewer is
placed behind a screen, in a
position of authority or security,
above Acconcis head, listening to
him talk about his hallucination.
Slowly, the audience begin to
understand Acconcis need to
control and be controlled. It allows
the audiences to feel like they
have a position of power over as
they are watching from CCTV
footage. As seen below, Acconci is
faced away from the audience. I
think this was done as it creates
meaning with the audience as
they were situated behind him on
a screen, as opposed to looking at
him in person. I think the
message is a unique one as it
makes the audience think about
why everyone in modern day has
to be viewed from behind a
screen, not in person like it used
to.
Holograms are another way in
which video installation can be
installed. There are a number of
manners in which the holograms

Ciotat (The Arrival of a Train at La


Ciotat
Station),
which
was

can be projected to create effect.


The principle one however is that
a recording will be played on
some sort of device, with special
pieces of plastic being placed
around the device. The plastic is
tinted at an angle so that it allows
reflection to be made that
simulates a hologram. It creates
the effect that video is real as it is
sort of being projected, only in a
3D manner. If the projection is big
enough, the audience could be
able to walk through it. This is a
good way in which that audience
can be enhanced with the video
installation, as it creates the
effect as if they are a part of the
installation.

As mentioned previously with Vito


Acconci, there are many different
practitioners of video installation,
some of which can be dated back
to the 1800s. One of the most
famous practitioners for the use
of video installation would be the
Lumire brothers. These two are
widely regarded as the pioneering
force in filmmaking, known for
developing the first actual motion
pictures. One of their more
famous pieces of work would be
L'Arrive d'un train en gare de La

installed using a cinemotographe.


A cinematographe was one of the
earlier versions of the modern day
film projector. All that was
projected was a motion picture of
a train arriving at the train
station. However, at the time of
its creation, motion pictures were
something new and were made as
exhibitions as opposed to like a
cinema. When people first saw
the video, they thought that the
train was actually coming towards
them, and caused some people to
even panic and run away from the
projection as they thought it was
real.
A more modern form of video
installation would be from artist
Omar Fast, with his exhibit 5000
Feet is Best. The idea is
generated from the concept that
work is war, with a pilot
discussing how he will hit targets
in Pakistan whilst sat from a
control room in Nevada. From the
actual narrative itself, we see a
drone from 5000 feet above the
air following a boy on his bicycle. I
think
this
utilized
television
effectively here as it makes the
audience think about how little it
takes to kill someone when sat
behind a screen; the pilot talking
over is simply sat behind a control
desk discussing how he plans to

drop bombs in Pakistan, with him


most likely being positioned in
front of the screen of a drone. By
showing footage of a young boy
cycling through a city, it makes
the audience think about how this
pilot could easily be talking about
the city in which the child might
be cycling through.

Some forms of video installation


differ from a lot of video
installations as they are also set
up in a way so that they can
create a style, such as with the
holograms
immersing
the
audience making them a part of
it. Shigeko Kubota was a Japanese
American artist, famous for her
video installation piece Nude
Descending Down a Staircase.
With this piece she made a
sculpture of a staircase, with
screens in each step. By doing
this she bought the name of her
piece to life, and by doing so
made her piece stand out from
everyone elses.
Narratives in video installation
can vary depending on a variety
factors,
most
commonly
depending on either the topic or
the artist behind the video
installation. Linear narratives can
be created within exhibitions due
to how video installations make
use of space within the exhibit to
create a narrative. By doing this

the artist can create a linear


cinematic narrative throughout
the space which immerses the
audience. This method would also
be found quite a lot when the
artist is trying to make the
audience think in a certain way
about their art. However, not all
artists use a narrative to their
video
installations,
usually
because they are not trying to
create a story. I mentioned before
with The Lumire Brothers and
Acconci about their use of work
where space to create meaning.
Acconci
positioned
audience
directly in front of the TV, even
though he was directly in front of
them, to create the meaning that
we spend our lives looking
through a screen. The Lumire
Brothers confined their audiences
in a dark, compact room with a
huge projection of a train on the
screen. This meaning however
was more of a subtle meaning, as
the audiences thought the train
was coming straight towards
them and that they were trapped.
I like all these ideas for multiple
different reasons, but what I like
about this pieces is how they
relate to my own. I find this
particularly with 5000 Feet is
Best
by
Omar
Fast,
and
Command Performance by Vito
Acconci. The reason I think that
they relate to my ideas is because

I like how both of these pieces


utlise their space to create a
meaning within their audiences.
For my work with Radio Dramas, I
thought it would be a sensible
idea to have a small, blacked-out,
confined room with MP3 player
made to look like an old radio.
People would put on headphones
and listen to the recordings. I
would do this because I want to
use this confined space so that
the audience are fully immersed
in the radio dramas. Radio
dramas rely purely on sound to
tell a story, so by using a confined
area for the radio dramas would
mean that the audience are fully
immersed in it as it is the only
thing they are focused on.
I think the audiences will depend
on which exhibit is being viewed
and where they are viewing it. For
example, 5000 Feet is Best is
presented in The Imperial War
Museum, so it is most likely that
the people viewing this would be
interested in the history of war.
Their reactions would also all vary
depending on where they are. In
this scenario I believe that people
would feel the concept of work is
war, whilst also feeling very
isolated. Only one person at a
time is allowed in the installation
at a time, and it simply follows
one boy and the only comfort of
somebody speaking over.

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