Friday, September 6, 2013

Reading Response 2


        Video “art” is made for many reasons by all types of people with a wide variety of backgrounds ranging from philosophical to political to personal.  The second half of chapter one in Video Art by Michael Rush gives a compilation of many different notable video artists who have a multitude of reasons for making their art.  I think we can all agree that the intent of the artist in making a piece heavily influences how that piece is perceived, whether or not the artist’s intent is successfully portrayed. It is stated in Chapter 2 that the artists who saw video as an extension of their own artistic practices are the ones who really expanded the meaning of videos into the respectable art form it is today. 
        This brings me to the following question: does the reason for making art, specifically video art, chance the importance of the artwork?  For example, is art made with a political message intended for the masses more important than art made for personal reasons intimate to the maker but not shared by the public?  Depending on one’s answer to this question, the meaning of video art can change dramatically.  Videos are used worldwide for many purposes other than art, such as for advertising entertainment, or memories. If the maker of these works intended their pieces to be art and their videos were installed in a museum, would their worth deteriorate or expand to become something more than just their subject matter?   

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