-
Contemplating the Navel: The Use and Abuse of Video Art
- Performing Arts Journal
- The MIT Press
- Volume 4, Numbers 1 and 2, 1979 (PAJ 10/11)
- pp. 62-69
- Article
- Additional Information
CONTEMPLATING THE NAVEL The Use and Abuse of Video Art Daryl Chin A Bodhisattva, who repeatedly and often dwells in mental activities connected with that Suchness, comes near to the supreme enlightenment, and he does not lose those mental activities again. It is certain that there can be no growth or diminution of an entity which is beyond all words, and that therefore neither the perfections, nor all dharmas, can grow or dimish. It is thus that, when he dwells in mental activities of this kind, a Bodhisattva becomes one who is near to perfect enlightenment. -Ashtasahasrik& I'd like to consider an article written by Rosalind Krauss which appeared in October 1, Spring 1976. This article was entitled "Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism," and provided an argument for the following proposition: ... In that image of self-regard is configured a narcissism so endemic to works of video that I find myself wanting to generalize it as the condition of the entire genre. Yet, what would it mean to say, "The medium of video is narcissism?" For one thing, that remark tends to open up a rift between the nature of video and that of the other visual arts. Because that statement describes a psychological rather than a physical condition; and while we are accustomed to thinking of psychological states as the possible subjects of works of art, we do not think of psychology as constituting their medium. 62 Krauss concluded: "Yet with the subject of video, the ease of defining it in terms of its machinery does not seem to coincide with accuracy; and my own experience of video keeps urging me towards the psychological model." I have quoted that article so extensively because the general thrust of the statements would seem to have been conditioned by and, in turn, to have conditioned what is currently referred to as "video art." I should like to return, as it were, to retrace the evolution of "video art" from the standpoint of an observer. In the late sixties and the early seventies , there were a number of important exhibitions in New York City institutions which centered on the aesthetic usage of technology. I am, unfortunately , unable to elaborate on these exhibitions; however, three particular exhibitions pertinent in this instance were: the "Software" Exhibition at the Jewish Museum; the "Information" Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art; the "Anti-illusion" Exhibition at the Whitney Museum. These all date from the period between 1969 through 1971, signifying a shift from a minimalist to a postminimalist aesthetic, a shift chronicled, with lavish attention , by Robert Pincus-Witten. In this recollection, I recall certain terms which were prevalent in the parlance of the art world during that period: "game theory," "cybernetics," "information theory," "process," "fusion." The attempt to equalize the discrepancy between art and science through the co-optation of technology, revising the conception of art from a contemplative exercise to an information conduit, may be summed up in a statement by Nam June Paik. He is quoted by Calvin Tompkins in the profile "Video Visionary" which appears in The Scene (1976): Problem Is not really socialism or capitalism but technology, you know-how we manage that. For instance, technological forecasting, future-research-I am very interested in that. They need us artists, to make that sort of information available to the public. Even New York Times will not print Rand Corporation Report, because it is so boring. Like McLuhan say, we are antenna for changing society. But not only antenna-we also have output capacity, capacity to humanize technology. [Sic] During the first burst of "video art," many of the artists who engaged in this arena issued comments on the ideas of "telecasting," "information," and "communication." In addition to Paik, many of the artists attracted to video were filmmakers, such as Stan VanDerBeek, Shirley Clarke and Ed Emshwiller . In contradistinction to developments within the independent cinema, the impulse of the early video art movement evolved the idea of the artist as a social agent, explicating a procedure of Information output. In any medium, the "models" for development arise both extrinsically and internally. In the case of video art, the "model" of broadcast television was already established. Video...