Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. Video art came into existence during the late 1960s and early 1970s as new consumer video technology became available outside corporate broadcasting. Video art can take many forms: recordings that are broadcast; installations viewed in galleries or museums; works streamed online, distributed as video tapes, or DVDs; and performances which may incorporate one or more television sets, video monitors, and projections, displaying ‘live’ or recorded images and sounds;.
Video art is named after the original analog video tape, which was most commonly used recording technology in the form’s early years. With the advent of digital recording equipment, many artists began to explore digital technology as a new way of expression.
One of the key differences between video art and theatrical cinema is that video art does not necessarily rely on many of the conventions that define theatrical cinema. Video art may not employ the use of actors, may contain no dialogue, may have no discernible narrative or plot, or adhere to any of the other conventions that generally define motion pictures as entertainment. This distinction also delineates video art from cinema’s subcategories (avant garde cinema, short films, or experimental films, etc.).
