Video Art

by Michael Rush

The most complete and up-to-date overview available of an art form born some forty years ago and now ubiquitous internationally. Video art has moved from brief showings on tiny screens in alternative art spaces to dominance in international exhibitions and artistic events, in which vast video installations sometimes occupy factory-sized buildings or video projections take over the walls of an entire city block. It embraces all the significant art ideas and forms of recent times―from Abstract, Conceptual, Minimal, Performance, and Pop to photography and film.

Abundantly illustrated with frames and sequences, this updated edition offers a history of the medium from its early practitioners, such as Bruce Nauman and Vito Acconci, who used the video camera as an extension of their own bodies, through the vast array of conceptual, political, personal, and lyrical installations of the 1980s and 1990s by Gary Hill, Bill Viola, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Mary Lucier, Michal Rovner, and others up to the present day.

A new chapter, "Video Ascending," explores the recent use of video in what might be called "the new cinematics"―not only multi-screen installations mixing sound and visuals but also immersive environments, including Virtual Reality, and alternative sculpture that combines solid forms with moving images. 383 illustrations, 296 in color. 383 illustrations, 296 in color

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Film, Photography

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2003

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reads more like an encyclopedia of video artists than a probing analysis of the medium. Rush provides energetic examinations of specific artists and their works, but I was left uncertain of what to make of the movement/artform as a whole. He mentioned several themes in the introduction of the book but they were never really expanded upon. There are a lot of really nice stills included in the book, though.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

The images and short descriptions of hundreds of video projects make this book a useful reference, especially if you want to show a lot of still in the classroom. However, the text is exceptionally superficial and fails to place work in either historical or a critical perspective (let alone both). Worse, Rush makes sweeping assertions that are really personal curatorial judgments that write off whole areas of video practice. He occasionally seems more like a video art trendspotter or art fashionista than a critic.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite help for someone who start learning about video art.
it gives you information and some perspectives from some artists's artwork.

[Mills College Library]

702.81 R953v 2007

[Michael Lew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the wide field of video art (as shown in art galleries, art centers, art fairs and museums of modern or contemporary art) with lots of stills (photos taken from the pieces themselves with the authorisation of the artist).