Chapter 2:Video Art

After reading Chapter 2 on Video Art, I found myself especially interested in the sections that talked about video as an extension of the body, or as a way to explore the body. I was first drawn to this idea when the chapter introduced the works of Vito Acconci and Bruce Nauman. These two artists would use video to tape themselves making art in studios or other scenarios. The chapter states that "in this way, video became an extension of the artistic gesture so long associated with painting." Just like how the arm is just as important to painting as the paintbrush is, video has now become an extension of the body that is essential to the works of certain artists.

Here is an example of one of Bruce Nauman's pieces (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkfOgavdhak). While watching this I thought of it as a primeval version of a performance piece, which leads me into my next discussion of video as a way to explore the body. Later on in the chapter the works of Joan Jonas are mentioned. Jonas stated that "working with video enabled me to develop my own language, a poetic language. Video was something for me to climb into and explore as a spatial element and with myself inside of it." In this way, video allowed Jonas (and many other artists) to explore the physicality of bodies (their own and others), and derive meanings from studying the human body. Video allows artists to develop a theoretical artistic limb on their bodies, while simultaneously allowing artists to study their bodies. Here is a link to Hannah Wilke's piece "Gestures." It's an interesting performance piece that I think has a lot of resemblances to Bruce Nauman's piece. https://vimeo.com/14760777