video_art

Sony Portapak was the first portable video recording system enabling artists to create outside traditional studios. Its portability allowed artists to capture footage in real-word environments. This era saw artists using video as an artistic medium rather than just for broadcast.

Many innovators were interested in the formal qualities of video as a means of image making and employed video synthesizers to create abstract works.

Particularly, the emergence of color television in the 1960s significantly influenced video art. Artists began experimenting with more varied aesthetics and visual language, leveraging the broader color palette.

Video Synthesizers allowed real-time manipulation of video signals using analog technology
artists could create abstract visuals, modify images, and experiment with special effects, opening up new creative possibilities in video art.

The computational nature of early computer graphics allowed artists to move beyond representational imagery and explore abstract, algorithmically generated visuals

Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) & 3D Animation

Computer Graphics / CGI

Digital Video Editing

Emerged with the advent of personal computers and digital video formats

Key software:
quantel paintbox (1981)
amiga computers (1985)
Adobe Premiere (1991)

Projection Mapping & Installations

Artists could layer multiple video streams, add digital effects, and blend images seamlessly. Artists like Bill Viola and Gary Hill used digital editing to manipulate time, slow motion, and superimposed imagery, creating immersive, dreamlike sequences.

These devices were created through experimental efforts by artists, engineers, and academics, similar to the development of audio synthesizers. Early video manipulation involved exploiting the physics of television technology, such as the cathode ray tube, to create new visual effects.

Video equipment became more accessible with the rise of consumer electronics, lowering the cost and enabling more experimental work. This was revolutionary compared to the long processing times required for film, creating an art world where forms such as painting, photography, and sculpture had been the long-held norm

Television played a crucial role in the early development of video art, offering artists a new medium to manipulate visuals and explore time-based media.

Artists like Nam June Paik experimented with television sets, distorting broadcast signals, and arranging multiple monitors into sculptural forms. This transformed TV from a passive medium into an interactive and expressive tool.

In cinema, CGI has revolutionized visual storytelling by enabling filmmakers to create visual effects, hyper-realistic environments, and fantastical elements. It enhances narratives by integrating digital elements with live-action footage, expanding the scope of world-building and immersive storytelling.

Projection mapping is a technique that uses projectors to display images or videos onto physical surfaces, transforming them into dynamic canvases. Artists often employ 3D software to design content that fits around the contours of the surface, creating captivating effects.

This technique is frequently used in immersive installations, where the projections are interactive in real-time, allowing the audience to influence or engage with the content as it unfolds.

The 1980s were crucial for the development and acceptance of CGI. During this period, the use of computer graphics in motion pictures reached new levels of sophistication.
Notably, the release of Tron in 1982, which combined 2D and 3D animation techniques.

The introduction of digital video editing tools made video manipulation more accessible and flexible. Unlike analog editing, which required physical splicing and was limited by linear workflows, digital editing allowed for greater precision, layering, and experimentation- greatly expanding the possibilities of video as an artistic medium.

Artists experimented with procedural graphics, fractals, and algorithmic art, creating visuals that were impossible to achieve with traditional film or analog video.

Augmented Reality (AR) blends the digital and physical worlds in real time. Artists can create installations where digital elements interact with the physical space and respond to users' movements.

Multisensory media integrates multiple senses—such as sight, sound, and touch—to create a fully immersive experience. Technologies like AR/VR, haptic feedback, and 360-degree sound design enable artists to heighten the sense of presence in their works.

The impact of these interactive technologies reshaped the relationship between the viewer and the artwork, making the viewer not just a passive observer but an active participant in the art experience.

Virtual Reality (VR) immerses users in a fully simulated world, offering a deeper level of interaction and transforming video art into an active, participatory experience. VR, powered by headsets and real-time graphics engines like Unity and Unreal Engine, allows artists to create environments that users can engage with in real time.