How is the video installation different from the films? To formulate such otherness, we will define physical differences and will use them as evidence to explain the experience and aesthetic appreciation.
It may seem that we are trying to find differences between the same things. Video in cinema and video in art is still the same videos, therefore it is necessary to define what we are going to compare.
Since video in cinema appeared earlier than video in art, we can conclude that the first is the original element. But does it mean that video in cinema is more than video in art? Humanity first needed to create a pinhole camera, photography, Thomas Edison needed to develop a camera capable of photographing images up to 40 times per second, then integrate sound and colour into video, and only after that Nam June Paik in 1965 could create his first video art. Thus, video as an art is in itself more than video as a film, because it contains this entire previous experience. Video in art repeats itself and creates its new manifestation. It forms new absent reality, therefore, video in the art can be called a simulacrum. Comparison of simulacrum with the original element cannot be right. Therefore the only comparison can be in the context of use.
Старейшая сохранившаяся фотография «Вид из окна в Ле Гра», 1826 год [Photography] At: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Фотография#/media/Файл:View_from_the_Window_at_Le_Gras,_Joseph_Nicéphore_Niépce,_uncompressed_UMN_source.png (Accessed 02.04.2020)
1. The image of time described by Deleuze in his work “Cinema” 1983 can be used as a first difference. There is a physical possibility to show the current moment in video art, but not in the film. Although Deleuze gave an example of Rossellini's film “Europe-51” where “image-memory is deeper than image-times” (Deleuze, 2004, 351) but physically film represents objects in the past. The video installation provides the possibility of Livestream. Or for example, work of Dan Graham's “Present Continuous Past(s)”, where at the same time the reflection in the mirror as the present, the video records present moment, and the past is reproduced on the monitor screen with a delay of 1 second.
Dan Graham, «Present Continuous Past(s)», 1974 © Dan Graham [sketch] At: http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/present-continuous-pasts/ (Accessed 02.04.2020)
2. The image of movement. The narrative representation used in cinema more often to convey the plot or the general idea of the film. In the video installation, although the image of movement will be present, the sense of it can be something else. For example, “Static” 2009 Steve McQueen where, in contrast to the movement of the camera, the preservation of values is opposed to it and the image of movement acquires materiality like the monument. Although, narrative presentation of movement exists in video installations for example in the works of Bill Viola.
© Steve McQueen. 2009 Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and Marian Goodman Gallery, Film, 35 mm, or video, high definition, projection, colour and sound [Video installation] At: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mcqueen-static-t13425 (Accessed 02.04.2020)
Bill Viola 2015 “Three Women” Photo: Kira Perov [Video installation] At: http://www.theartnewspaper.ru/posts/1841/ (Accessed 02.04.2020)
3. Presentation form of this video. In the case of video installations, the video can be shown on different objects, while the movie is intended to be seen on a flat-screen.
4. Place of presentation of such a video. The installation can be presented in the gallery and the movie is most often presented at the cinema, and then can be viewed at home. Though the video installation can also be seen at home via the Internet.
5. Interaction. Cinema is often a monologue, and video installation is a dialogue, direct involvement of the viewer. For example, the work of Bruce Nauman "Live-Taped Video Corridor" involves the physical body of the man. Although there are educational films or documentaries where the viewer directly receives information, he is being trained which can be called as both side interaction.
Bruce Nauman, 1970 Live-Taped Video Corridor, Wallboard, video camera, two video monitors, video recording, and video playback device © 2018 Bruce Nauman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Guggenheim At: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/3153 (Accessed 02.04.2020)
6. The content of the video installation and film differ in its filling (plot, actors, etc.) or idea, message it has to deliver. It is difficult to imagine a film that does not take into account the technical features of film production. These features vary by the type of film (action, adventure, musicals, animation, documentary, historical, science fiction, series, etc.). For example, if it is a comedy, then it should be with characters. Whereas in video installations, the only limitation is the tool itself - video. For example, the work of Nam June Paik "Zen for TV", on the one hand, is considered as a video installation (actually, without video in motion) and on the other hand, this is a readymade art object.
Nam June Paik, 1963/1981, Zen for TV 58 x 43 x 36 cm, MoMA © 2020 Nam June Paik [Video installation] At: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/163792 (Accessed 02.04.2020)
7. The image of the space. In cinema, space is narrated linearly in the context of time. It is transmitted by the physical movement of the film of the camera. Hitchcock movie "Rear Window" 1954 where, a hero watches a neighbour, while he is been watched by us. It is kind of a video collage with the film itself and the viewer. But, for example, in the installation Joan Jonas "Left Side Right Side", creates space not only using video, monitor, but also an additional object - a mirror, plus viewer and performer. That is, the boundaries of this type of video seem to expand and space is not interpreted linearly plus man, but figuratively plus man.
The difference in perception of experience undoubtedly gives rise to conceptually different perception effects of time; movement; presentation form; places of performance; interaction with viewer; content and the space for a person. In the case of the film, this is a delayed perception of the moment originally composed by the director, while in the video installation, we can experience multiple moments in time. Our perception of video will also depend on what we have to look at and in which environment. If this is a cosy movie theatre with comfortable seating and tasty popcorn, then most likely we perceive it as entertainment in a relaxing atmosphere. If the work of Tony Oursler in a gallery space appears like a distorted face on uneven panels, our perception will differ to what we saw in a movie theatre. Our presence in the gallery already obliges us to have a different attitude to this video installation in contrast to the video in cinema. Although, after Hitchcock Birds, most likely, we will be in a nervous state, since the director used cinema techniques that make the viewer be suspense. Whereas, for example, a video installation of Helen Maurer with flowers and butterflies on the wall can be perceived as the correlation with nature. Such an experience will be friendly and the connotation is positive.
TONY OURSLER, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, Hong Kong, Jan. 14 - Mar. 5, 2016 [Video installation] At: https://tonyoursler.com/privte (Accessed 02.04.2020)
Helen Maurer, Installation view: re Composing 2016 at Danielle Arnaud. Photo by Oskar Proctor At: http://www.daniellearnaud.com/artists/artists-maurer.html (Accessed 02.04.2020)
Aesthetic perception of the video in any of these physical differences depends on the context. If we use the term “aesthetic” as Kant understands it, we need to find the beauty and sublime in film and video installations which is based on a specific context of work. If in a movie a plot is more likely to evoke some or other aesthetic feelings, then the installation will provoke rather theological judgment of what has been seen.
In conclusion, we can say that highlighting the differences between the video installation and the film, we initially compare the same nature, which through repetition has acquired a new appearance. Video in both cases found its own field of realisation which leads the observer to a different perception depending on the context.
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