MUSIC/VIDEO
October 20 – December 31, 2004

Video art and music videos developed in very different contexts with conflicting aims. The former emerged in the late 1960s with the introduction of affordable video equipment, allowing visual artists to experiment with this new time-based medium. They explored the form and unique characteristics of video, often in marked contrast to its commercial applications in broadcast television. Music videos, by comparison, were a logical outgrowth of the short promotional films aired on popular music programs in the 1960s and rock and roll feature films. It was not, however, until the appearance of music television channels in the 1980s that promotional videos were recognized as a distinct medium of their own, with the potential to market pop songs to millions of consumers with a combination of stylized visual sequences and performance footage. Though many visual artists eschewed the commercialism of both MTV and pop music in general, a significant number of music video directors came out of art schools and made an important impact in this arena.

To varying degrees, the artists in this exhibition draw upon the techniques of video art as well as popular music videos. Even the earliest work here, an experimental video by Paik and Yalkut that predates MTV by a dozen years, includes mass media footage of a Beatles concert at Shea Stadium. Conversely, promotional videos by visual artists incorporate the distinct artistic visions of their makers. Some of the artists critique the music industry and consumer culture in their videos. Others view the music video format as a means by which to connect to a mass audience and recognize the creative and often humorous possibilities in making new videos for existing pop songs. For a few, video is an extension of their work as musicians or as a way to play out their desire to be musicians or pop stars. A number of artists strategically appropriate the conventions and techniques employed in music videos to raise social and political questions.

Artists include: assume vivid astro focus, Dara Birnbaum, Slater Bradley (with Blonde Redhead), Candice Breitz, Tony Cokes, Brice Dellsperger, Rodney Graham, Jay Heikes, Jonathan Hernández (with Fussible and Torolab), Tony Oursler (with Sonic Youth), Nam June Paik and Jud Yalkut , Pipilotti Rist, Marina Rosenfeld, Jackie Salloum, Guy Richards Smit, Susan Smith-Pinelo, and William Wegman and Robert Breer (with New Order).

An earlier version of "Music/Video" was presented in 2002 at the Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain in Strasbourg, France.