Gilbey

What is video installation? Video installation is a way of showcasing a video production in an exhibition environment. Practitioners of video installation will use technology from all variants to show this. They will also sometimes build a set around the video to make it more engaging to the audience. We see video installation in an astonishing amount of ways. Using televisions, iPads, Sat Nav’s. You name it, there’s probably a video installation using it!

So you’re most likely wondering how practitioners go about this and how do they make it exciting for their audience to watch. Well… German practitioner Didier Laget produced a piece that he named ‘Gluck’. This translates to ‘chance’ and ‘happiness’. Laget filmed moments of happiness in which luck appears. He recorded 12 videos which all were on separate screens shown on a loop. All of the videos were different lengths meaning the only way to find out when the start and the end was, you had to listen for the soundtrack within the video. This signaled the beginning and the end. The technology used in this installation is very simple. Laget used only flat screens and placed them in a dark room. The darkness allowed the audience to be more concentrated on what they were viewing meaning they were more likely to experience this happiness. This video installation provides us with a non-narrative form. This means there is no direct story for us to follow, unlike some installations that tell us a specific story. Laget wanted his audience to feel happiness from things they don’t see regularly in their day to day lives as this gives us a different sense of happiness.

This moves me on to practitioners such as Adel Abidin. In 2006 he created an installation that is bound to pull on anybody’s heartstrings. He named his piece ‘Construction Site’ and used simply one screen and then built a surrounding set. The intention for this was to show people the severity of the Iraq War and the effect it is having on the Iraqi population. By calling the installation ‘Construction Site’ this already makes us as the audience sympathetic as this descirbes the state of these people’s homes. He showed a child picking up rubble with a spoon. This installation has more of a narrative as it is telling us a story rather than Didier Laget who wanted us to just escape to a certain place. The rubble surrounding the video gives us the feeling we are there. This was Abidin’s intention as we are not only seeing what is going on but it gives us a slight feel to it as well. It gives us insights into what their current lives are like and what surrounds them everyday. In order to watch this video you have to crouch down in the rubble, this makes us feel as if we are there with the little girl, which was the intention of the artist. By having the audience somewhat eye level with the girl it feels as if it is just us and her. Nobody else. This has a massive effect on the audience, as we aren’t used to this sort of surrounding. In these first world countries we are so used to what people in other parts of the world would call ‘the life of luxury’. The soundtrack he used was a little girl singing in Arabic. From this we can only presume the little girl singing is the same girl we see picking up the rubble. Just by looking at this if we hadn’t already felt heartbroken by what we see, the fact we also hear her gives the audience that extra special connection with her. Despite the fact we as the audience do not know her. This installation was shown in the ‘Nordic Pavillion’ at the ‘Venice Biennial’ in 2007. One of the reasons this location was chosen is to show people in more advanced countries what the world around them is like. The installation would not have been as effective if shown in somewhere like Baghdad (where the installation is based). It is a realization to people in first world countries.

(“Acconci’s work is typical of performance and conceptual art made during this period in the way that he uses his body as the object of his art in order to explore some specific idea.”)Video installations aren’t just a new thing. They have been going on for a

number of years now. Take Vito Acconci as an example. He has been described as the odd ball of video installation and could only be described as… well… charismatic? He enjoyed using interpretive ways rather than technology to showcase his work. He doesn’t rely on fancy technology and a big set. He relies on his body… One of his first installations was in 1971. Acconci named this piece ‘Seedbed’. He performed this at Sonnabend Gallery in New York. You can only assume he chose New York to display this installation as this is his hometown. By having an installation so intimate it would only make sense to do it in your home state as New York is incredibly close to him. This closely relates to the narrative of this installation. Being intimate and close. This involved him lying down underneath a wooden plank whilst masturbating. He did this for eight hours a day for three weeks, audiences would not see him but they would hear him as he would murmur his sexual fantasies which were played through a set of speakers for the audience to hear. The reason behind all of this was to create an intimate connection between the audience and the artist. Vito Acconci was proving that this was possible without seeing the other person. He really wanted to highlight the closeness you can have with someone. He wanted to portray that love and intimacy is what we live for. We all crave it, we all have it at some point. In 1971 Cindy Nemser wrote about this piece in “Arts Magazine”. She described the installation as somewhat narcissistic. She wrote an article called “Video: the aesthetics of naracassism”.

This sexual theme is expressed throughout quite a few of his installations. This is because during this time American art was all about experimentation, involving psychological and social theories, sexual liberation and political rebellion. In 1975 he created ‘Pornography In The Classroom’. A slightly worrying title I know. This involved videos of men and women partaking in sexual activity, which was projected onto a blank screen. The television monitor he used showed an erect penis getting larger and larger as his voice exclaimed, “land ho!” and “there she blows!” He used an uncarpeted floor in order for the sound to echo and project through the room much better. This made the audience feel uncomfortable initially but once more was added to the installation it all starts to come together eventually. Vito Acconci projected words such as ‘fear’, ‘desire’, ‘envy’ and ‘anger’. The reason behind this strange installation is not to show people engaging in sexual activity but to emphasis the heart of all humans. This is the feelings projected on the wall. They are supposed to be the main focus and reason behind the installation. This was shown at the Roger Wong gallery in Los Angeles. This was Vito’s first trip to L.A.

It seems as if a majority of Vito Acconci’s work is based on love and intimacy. He is trying to portray the love we have with one another and how this makes us feel. Love and intimacy should not just be about physical relationship between one another but should be about deep feelings.

Overall it seems like these installations have really changed over time… Definitely for the better! Technology has allowed artists to explore exciting innovative ways to showcase their work.