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Broadband, HDTV, and Video Art
An artistic window with a view towards next generation broadband services.
By: Bruce Bahlmann - Contributing Author (your
feedback
is important to us!)
Created:
April 8, 2005
Note: This paper is the product of
Broadband
Market Research
which is available from Birds-Eye Network Services.
As the acute eye would tell you, if it indeed could talk, the inner need
to cover a blank wall with something colorful or intrinsically meaningful is
of significant importance. The hanging and proud display of art transforms a
living or work space out of what might otherwise be a clinical setting – a
generic, white cavity that is carved out of plaster and devoid of character.
The hanging and display of art psychologically moves walls that might
otherwise appear further away towards its inhabitance in a kind of familiar
and comfortable way. Fine art creates a surrounding and appealing space out
of rooms aspiring to appear institutional, or larger than normal, or cleaner
than perhaps they actually are. Whether you fancy paintings of dogs playing
poker or have the thirst, flair, and budget for truly fine art the
convergence of broadband, High Definition Television (HDTV), and Video Art
caters to such tastes with an increasing number of options that go well
beyond merely covering white walls.
What is Video Art?
 There is such a thing known as video art. While video art has been around
for almost 15 years, today it rudimentary exists relative to other more
mature forms of fine art (like painting or photography), it is rapidly
evolving and has handsomely sold to interested art collectors and video
enthusiasts for thousands of dollars. The forerunner to video art was
experimental short films and performances in galleries and the art world in
the 70’s. Some increasingly visible New York City galleries such as Jack The
Pelican Presents (www.jackthepelicanpresents.com),
I-20 (www.i-20.com),
Plexus (www.plexus.org),
and Team (www.teamgal.com)
all have a history of exhibiting this form of fine art. There are also some
video artists in this area who have become world renown such as Bill Viola (www.billviola.com)
and Issac Julien (www.isaacjulien.com)
who’s intriguing and innovative images, short movies, and screen savers
exploit and compliment the extreme design and over engineering of the most
advanced flat panel televisions and plasma displays available as well as
make ordinary tube televisions look much more expensive than they really
are. To even the most acute eye, increasingly a HDTV monitor displaying
video art becomes less an engineered assembly of plastic, silicon, and glass
- rather more like canvas stretched across a modern wooden frame.
One notable collector of video art is none other than Peter Norton (the
founder of Norton Anti-Virus as well as the Norton Family Foundation).
Norton lives on the 40th floor of the Trump Tower in New York City (among
other residences) and has amassed quite a collection of video art on flat
screen television monitors scattered through his living space. Norton
actually employs his own art curator and his homes proudly display many
different forms of video art some even in his bathroom.
Where does Video Art and Technology Merge?
Video art is just another form of visual expression. Similar to the way a
person becomes consumed or involved by a movie image; people become equally
touched by art in its many forms. Rebecca Hackemann
 (www.rebeccahackemann.com)
is an artist who places intellectually stimulating stereoscopic photographs
into aesthetically pleasing viewing boxes where by allowing the viewer to
interact personally with the stereo images presented within the each box.
This resulting personal experience with visual imagery typifies the common
reaction that video art has with its audience – it becomes a very personal
and private visual experience. Only fine art can impact people in different
ways depending on the role the observer must take on to view the image. For
example, viewing an image on a wall in a public place will generate a much
more generic response over viewing the same image presented within a more
private, more personal viewing medium or within ones private domicile.
In many ways this resulting personal visual experience from viewing fine
art is not a coincidence. The making of fine art begins with careful
selection of the subject and then on to how the artist can present the
subject in a truly original way. The best artists always have these two
questions lingering in back of their conscience and this beyond normal
motivation to be unique, original is what differentiates professional
artists from amateur or casual artists.
An interesting transformation takes place when high resolution display
and broadband transmission technology become so good and so pleasing to the
eye (e.g. HDTV) that they can literally transport fine art from the
exhibitions in galleries to the a living or work space of its admirers. This
transport is made possible by broadband high speed data services and the
Internet increasingly available and accessible world wide. What separates
video art from more traditional forms of fine art such as photography or
painting is that video art is portable, easily reproducible, and above all
accessible - allowing people unwilling or unable to view fine art in person
at an exhibition. Mathew Barney (www.matthewbarney.com)
makes video art and sells it in editions often in very elaborate cases as
well as reprinted and distributed via museum bookstores and even some video
rental stores if the videos are longer.
Mounted on a wall, HDTV plasma monitors are like extraordinary canvases;
reveling a flawless view of an image within the comfort and familiarity of a
living or work space. Like a good movie that draws our attention to the
changing image on the screen such that our recollection of what surrounds
the image (e.g. the frame, wall, what ever lies between you and the image,
etc.) becomes blurred if not totally forgotten as the image commands our
complete attention and becomes a personal visual experience.
Video Art as a Service?
The quantum leap that remains for video art, beyond just gaining more
acceptance and popularity within the art world relative to more traditional
forms of fine art is visible on the horizon. This quantum leap will unveil
itself when the idea of a video monitor or flat panel display becomes less
the focal point of the family room, media entertainment room, or board room
and more an accessory that hangs in a variety of places and in a variety of
shapes and sizes throughout a living or work space. Think of it, an interior
decorators’ dream to be able to replace all the fine art within a living or
work space with a touch of a button – some video art even comes complete
with monitors and takes on more the form of a sculpture. Perhaps the whole
idea of video art could become a service that broadband operators can supply
or an idea for a new video entertainment service entirely devoted to art,
artists, and the making of art. There might even be a service that allows a
living or work space to select certain series or genres of paintings that
match their décor but provide some randomness within an otherwise unchanging
or institutional setting. Unlike static photographs or paintings, the idea
of video art delivers freedom to change and randomness but like static forms
or art it too can be displayed indefinitely. Video art will redefine the
most popular medium as well as rewire many long formed social and financial
barriers that the world’s elite have erected within the art world enabling
everyone to “own” or proudly display a Picasso, Rembrandt, as well as access
an increasing array of lesser known aspiring artists.
Check out these other Birds-Eye.Net papers/products
regarding HDTV:
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