If one were asked to name the tools of the artist, one would probably start with the paintbrush or pencil and run through dozens more before getting to the digital video camera, computer and Internet connection. However, ever since electronic technology started appearing on the market, artists have been using it.
Video art, loosely defined as compositions of recorded and generated moving images, is exciting from both an artistic and technical perspective. According to UW-Madison kinesiology Professor Douglas Rosenberg, video art got its start in the late 1960s, when Sony released its Portapak, the first portable video recorder. While somewhat ungainly, the Portapak allowed artists to capture almost anything in black and white, on half-inch reel-to-reel videotape.
Nam June Paik, a Korean-American artist, is regarded by many as the first to work in the medium. In 1965, he purchased one of the first Portapaks sold in the United States and used it to record Pope Paul VI's arrival in New York, showing the recording that evening under the title, \Electronic Video Recorder.""
Paik was followed by dozens of other artists, inspired by the Fluxus movement and the ability to create their own social commentary using media. TV had become the dominant force in culture, and video art was a way of using it for artists' ends. Video art groups and festivals sprung up around the world, and artists invented their own technologies and took advantage of every new piece of equipment as soon as it was on the market.
Rosenberg also said that video art has been getting more and more open with each innovation.
""In a way what's happened now with the availability of low-cost video hardware and software, we've moved towards the notion that video can be an egalitarian art form,"" he said, adding that the distance between people working in video and those working in film has become much smaller with the advent of digital technology.
""With the Web, the ability to transmit and broadcast images has become completely accessible,"" said Rosenberg. ""That kind of idea of democracy and egalitarianism has been reborn in the present with the new technology that's available.""
Rosenberg works with the Association for Dance and Performance Telematics. ADaPT is an experimental group exploring issues of art and performance over Internet media. The group has members at UW-Madison, Arizona State University, the University of California-Irvine, Ohio State University and the University of Utah. Its activities include multimedia performances featuring dance and music broadcast over the Internet.
Alison Rootberg, a UW sophomore taking majors in in dance and interarts and technology, performed in an ADaPT piece on Monday. She commented on the ability of technology to connect artists and to help them develop new ideas.
""I think fine arts in general is tending to collaborate more with technology, and I think it's interesting to see the new ideas that have emerged through experimentation,"" Rootberg said.
The performance, involving all five ADaPT institutions, featured dancers at different locations working together through mixed video streams. The artists involved kept in touch via an Internet chat program.
The artists used all the features of the technology, improvising the soundtrack and incorporating artifacts introduced by the transmission and compression into their work. Kristine Olson, a recent graduate from the IATECH program, operated the camera used in the performance, and spoke of how it was an essential part of the work.
""It's actually very challenging,"" Olson said. ""I feel like I mediate a lot.""
While the use of such advanced technology in art might make some feel that the human role is being diminished, the tools, no matter how complex, will always require humans to work their magic. Rosenberg emphasized the importance of knowing the history and culture behind the art, and believes that digital technology presents both new opportunities and challenges for artists.
""I think we're at a crucial point in the history of art-making ... there's a certain amount of responsibility that artists have when they have these tools,""Rosenberg said. ""One of the things that's occurred whenever we've had a revolution in technology is that we've had to use new tools to perpetuate existing models,"" he said. ""The challenge is, 'Do we use these new tools to do the same thing we were doing with other tools, or do we use these tools to create new models of expression and access?'\
