Video installation is a contemporary art form that combines video technology with

installation art, making use of all aspects of the surrounding environment to affect the
audience.

Video instilliations began in 1895 when the Lumiere Brothers showed ten short films to a pubic
audience. Films then developed to being shown in cinemas to large audiences, to then being
shown in galleries in a more interactive format. Artists nowadays specialise in video
instillations. The artists below all specialise in video instillations

A narrative is defined as a spoken or written account of connected events; a story. A non-narrative

contrasts this as it does not create a story.

Some instillations are narrative such as Bill Violas work The Crossing which tells the story o f a
man crossing over from life to death. Other video instillations such as Vito Acconcis Command
Performance are non narrative as they do not tell a story. Douglas Gordons 24 Hour Psycho
could be a non narrative piece as it primarily a commentary of time and repetition; however it
could be classed as a narrative instillation too as it tells the story of Psycho.

Vito Acconci is an artist who produces art for video installations. He began his career as a poet
before becoming a performance and video artist in the late 1960s. He used himself as the
subject for much of his work. In the 1970s he expanded into creating video instillations.
Command Performance was a video instillation he produced. The artist shows a video of
himself giving commands for a performance. This video is placed in front of a chair. There is
then a person sitting on the chair who follows the instructions. There is a CCTV camera set up
to record the person on the chair. There is then a TV behind the person where others can
watch them perform. I think this is an interesting technique because it is not just a video being
shown or projected, but instead involves multiple videos and is interactive as people can sit on
the chair. This piece would appeal to a wide audience as its interactive. The audience
responded well to this instillation as it was interactive. This meant that less people ignored it as
they were able to get involved rather than just look at it. I think this makes it work well as the
audience plays a role in the instillation. The rest of the room is very plain which makes the
videos the focus as there is nothing else to look at.

I cant think of any artist who has produced a more cogent symbol for our teetering political present,
when entire countries are walking the plank and taking the plunge, and we have no way of knowing
whether the result will be a big splash or a big splat.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/arts/design/review-vito-acconci-moma-ps1.html?_r=0

Douglas Gordon is a Scottish artist. A lot of his works uses material from the public realm that
has been altered. He also creates performance based work. One of his most famous pieces is 24
Hour Psycho. In this he used Alfred Hitchcocks film Psycho and slowed it down to play over 24
hours. This instillation was played around an empty white room. The video is projected onto
different screens placed around the room. The plain white walls and floor mean that the
audience only focuses on the video as there is nothing to distract from it. This is similar to Vito
Acconci and Bill Violas mentioned works. The instillation follows the narrative of the film
Psycho. The story has been slowed down so it focuses on repetition and time in a way that the
original film doesnt. The audience for Psycho was a young audience as this is the audience for
horror films. As this is slowed down I believe that the instillation would have a slightly older
target audience as the youth are typically not very patient. I like the fact that this instillation is
projected onto large screens so that there is nothing else to look at. I think this is a good way
to keep the audience engaged and works well.
. Other mirrors around the space, which reflect the film, begin to seem like doors, as though you are
looking at something happening in another room, just out of reach.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/reviews/douglas-gordon-gagosian-
britannia-street-london-2211188.html

Bill Viola is a current artist who produces video works. Much of his work focuses on key human
experiences such as birth and death. His work The Crossing shows a man with wait falling on
him getting heavier until you cannot see him anymore then the water stops falling and the man
is gone. The second video shows a man disappearing behind fire in the same way that they do
in the water. The instillation consists of two double-sided screens from floor to ceiling. By using
a high speed camera and 300 frames per second he was able to slow the video down and show
more detail than is visible by the naked eye. Many of his works use slow motio n to show time
passing. This was also in an empty room. The walls and floors were all black and the only light
came from the screens. This means the audience contemplates time and death as Viola
wanted.

We have to reclaim time itself, wrenching it from the "time is money" maximum efficiency, and
make room for it to flow the other way towards us. We must take time back into ourselves to let
our consciousness breathe and our cluttered minds be still and silent. This is what art can do and
what museums can be in todays world.
Bill Viola

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/global-contemporary/a/viola-the-
crossing