Hayden's Response to Video and Intermedia Article

I found one of the more intriguing parts of Stephen C. Foster's Video and Intermedia to be his discussion of how intermedia differs from multimedia.  He defines the difference as intermedia's ability to serve "as a vehicle through which a variety of 'generic intentions' can be processed," where multimedia does or cannot.  The idea of intermedia in this case means that video has the ability to move between art platforms, defining itself by defying its own form.  This discussion reminded me of the music video to Franz Ferdinand's song Right Action, which heavily involves intermedia to discuss its aesthetic on a variety of art platforms.  The video's involvement of multiple mutually understandable forms of communication allows it to be comprehensible and aesthetically pleasing to the viewer.

The "Right Action" video combines photographed, indexical footage with animation and drawings, as well as text-based information.  In this case, the screen itself is often divided, with one half showing one of the band members performing and the other half displaying some sort of lyric-based diagram or complex visual.  The text itself in many cases contains video-like qualities, as it moves, duplicates, grows and shrinks like many of the other visuals.  Sometimes the text is too small to read, a situation when it serves a purely retinal function, whereas in other situations it can be read and serves the purpose of communication as well.  I believe the use of text for multiple functions is an example of intermedia which in the context of this video, creates the variety of intentions which Foster speaks of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqTsUtQLRFk