From radical to mainstream : the evolution of video art

Abstract

It is difficult to imagine a world today without cameras recording all kinds of events and screens broadcasting them. This culture of screens has also shifted the art world towards the production of works created from moving images. This paper aims to provide a perspective on the historical background of video art, born amid the crisis of modernism: how and under what conditions did video art come into being and evolve, or what is its place in the art world? I will present the historical outlines of the genesis and evolution of the genre, without forgetting the search for an encompassing definition, if one exists, for the artistic practices of video art. Consequently, this research will pave the way to talk about the aesthetic and social implications of video art. As the aim of this paper is not to trace the history of video from its beginnings to the present day in detail, (which is beyond the scope of this paper) but to see its own aspects as a specific type of image, I have tried to present the artistic and political conditions that prepared its birth, the cultural context in which the works are produced and the artistic and theoretical developments specific to this medium.