VPSA63H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Shirin Neshat, Portapak, Video Art
Document Summary
Video records magnetic information that translates into images first used by governments, very expensive. The first portable cameras were meant for soldiers in vietnam to record images during the war. Early video was very physically fragile and tedious. Tv (cid:449)as see(cid:374) as the (cid:862)e(cid:374)e(cid:373)y(cid:863) of early (cid:448)ideo artists. Nam june pak immediately recoded his visit to the city after buying a portapak. Then later at night at a caf he showed his raw, unedited experience alongside the broadcasted version. Artists believed that video was a potential culture that could create social change. They acted in a way that was against television, media etc. (iconoplast- to be someone who destroyed existing icons and ideas that we hold valuable). Other artists believed that videos could create community. Artists chose to use video to document their work because it came closest to establishing the time-based facts of an event. You can record over and over again and do retakes.
