Introduction The term VJ has grown to cover a wide variety of artistic and technological styles. The VJ is constantly pushing the boundaries and redefining what a VJ is and what a VJ does by utilizing practices that often seem so far stretched between them that it is increasingly harder to pin down what a VJ is all about. To demonstrate the evolving nature of the VJ term, one only has to notice the overlooked change in the meaning of the term itself: From VJ - Video Jockey to VJ - Visual Jockey, and to realize that VJing incorporates many more practices than just video mixing. From Past to Present The term VJ was first used in the late 70s in New York Club Peppermint Lounge and gained fame on MTV in 1981 when the presenters were described as VJs. In 1990 UK's channel 4 artist show "Addictive TV" ran an article on the VJ culture on national television for the first time. However, the VJs historical roots can be traced to earlier periods than the term itself. In this essay I have decided to emphasize on two artistic approaches that, in my opinion, have had strong influences on the VJ culture and have determined the paths that VJ artists have taken. The first is the underground club culture and the second is the Avant-Garde art movements. These have had major influences on the way VJing is perceived today and on the way VJs describe themselves. Paul Sharits in the 40s and Peter Kubelka in the 50s were the first to experiment with light, rhythm and music, with the intention of creating moving images people could dance to. In the 60s London had its own light show culture. In the infamous UFO club light shows were put on as art events. The artist Mark Boyle, who was regarded the father of English light-show, used slide shows showing bodily fluids such as urine and blood and became a well known figure of the international contemporary art scene In today's club culture, the role of a VJ is closely linked to that of a DJ, in the way that both are live performers in the clubbing scene: One mixes music and the other visual projected graphics. Both are based on technology and represent modernity, art and style. "Club cultures celebrate technologies [...] and have led to formation of new aesthetics and judgements of value." (Thornton, 1996, p. 4) It is fair to say that the term VJ has benefited from sounding similar to the term The second approach to VJing originates from people like Malcolm LeGrice and Peter Gidal, who made experimental cinema, visual and performance art. They called it "Expanded Cinema" with ideas taken from post-Marxist idealism. They projected at multiple moving screens which represented an idealism of breaking out of the square medium. Artists such as Josef Beuys, Yoko Ono and John Cage used a mixture of different media as part of the Fluxus movement. When the Avant-Garde film makers collaged multiple images within a single frame, or painted and scratched film, or revolted against the indexical identity of cinema in other ways, they were working against "normal" film making procedures and the intended uses of film technology. (Film stock was not designed to be painted on). Thus they operated on the periphery of commercial cinema not only aesthetically but also technically." (Manovich, 2001, p. 306) "Like the "artist - engineer" Constructivists, VJs innovate and modify existing tools and software to suit their needs. They often times build new custom tools and software, thus elevating the "craft" into other dimensions." (Danto C. in Spinrad, 2005) The development of graphics and video synthesizers by DIY electronic enthusiasts in the early 60s and 70s has given the ability for individuals to experiment with video graphics for the first time and another Fluxus member, Nam June Paik invented the PaikAbe video synthesizer. "As collage technique replaced oil paint, so the cathode-ray will replace the canvas." (Dempsey, 2002, p. 257) In the 80s, technology allowed the development of video effects hardware that was purchased and spread to the clubbing scene. By the early 90s computers allowed the use of digital visual processing and the Amiga Video Toaster was one of the first desktop publishing systems. The first VJ aimed software was the Vujak which was written by Brian Kane and was then followed by fully functional commercial VJ applications such as MotionDive and VJamm. The VJ has evolved out of the club scene and into other artistic disciplines like video art, performance art and interactive displays. The VJ term now incorporates video clip makers, video editors, animators, software designers, interactive and stage and light designers. VJs pride themselves on developing their own kits and installations in a DIY fashion. VJs have converged into every visual art form where technology is involved. But as things came naturally to the VJ, the correct definition of the term VJ has never been successfully established. VJs did not stop to think about their cultural role and their message, and so "VJ" became an empty term without a correct definition of its culture and values. "The definition of VJ has not been pinned down as it is still in its infancy." (Walter, S. in D-Fuse, 2006, p. 46). Club Culture vs. Art Culture In the VJ community there seems to be a division between those who describe themselves as VJs, and occasionally use the VJ as a prefix to their name to describe who they are and what they do, and those who consider themselves media artists but still use the name VJ to categorize themselves. The first type of VJ is usually associated with underground cultures and I will describe it as the "Club VJ". Here the focus is on club and stage performances expressing one&s self more on the visual side of the art work. For here the image itself is the most important part of the show, the esthetics of the visuals, the quality of the rendered video and projected images. The sequence and the order of the videos and the layout of the visuals are what build the show. Club VJs are usually individuals who work on their own and try to make a name for themselves in the industry. To these artists the term VJ is important and an integral part of how they are perceived by the community. These artists may collaborate on other artistic projects and team up with other creative artists, usually on one-off events or projects, but seldom on an on going basis. "VJ Anyone" is a good example of this type of VJ. VJ Anyone gained his reputation in the club scene and on the stage doing gigs: "I spend a lot of time storyboarding my sets - good visuals work best in sequence, in context. Images can spoil each other if shown in the wrong order, in combination with conflicting subjects, colours and layouts." (D- Fuse, 2006, p. 84) Artists like these will normally demonstrate their video clips on their website as promotion material of what they do and who they are. The second type of VJ I am referring to is the "Artistic VJ". Those will seldom define themselves as VJs and prefer to use terms such as media artists, visual artists, interactive artists or a variety of other bombastic definitions. When confronted with the question "Are you a VJ?" the response tends to be "I may do some VJ work occasionally" suggesting that the work of a VJ is confined to clubs and the dance scene and therefore does not represent the line of work they would like to be associated with. These types of artists normally work within a group or a company. Their title name will (probably) never have the term VJ in it. Even when asked directly about their VJ work, they seem to avoid using the term VJ to describe their work and instead will give examples that are related to other disciplines or change the subject altogether. As an example of this theory I will use Chris Allen of "The Light Surgeons", an internationally famous UK based group that has gained their reputation as experimental visual artists: "Our work is many things: filmmaking, installation and performance, as well as print and photography. It spills into many different disciplines and blurs the boundaries between art and design, film and theatre. It's not about VJing - that is a term that I have never really felt described our work. It's taking a more musical and expressionistic approach to filmmaking and design." (D-Fuse, 2006, p. 87) According to this notion, the VJ artist seems to have lost his title (VJ). When a VJ works in a gallery space he will describe himself as a visual artist. When a VJ is involved with interaction he becomes as interactive artist, when a VJ takes to exploring musical content he becomes a musician. Where he creates his own filmed material he is a filmmaker, and when he combines them all he becomes a multidisciplinary artist or an artist - engineer Constructivist. Influences on the VJ culture As technology has evolved, so has the VJ artist with his love and enthusiasm for the latest technological inventions. VJs have embraced technology and used it to infiltrate into new practices. "It is fraudulent treating these diverse art forms as one. Other disciplines have had a bearing on A/V and VJ culture, as well as vice versa." (Doyle, A. of OneDotZero in D-Fuse, 2006, p. 46) Technology has become the main driver behind the VJ into exploring new methods of visual creativity. The VJ expanded into other artistic disciplines and converged with other cultures. 'Convergence has brought together technology applications with designers and artists. The diversity of the media landscape allows work to flow into many areas. It is now possible for creative people to work across a range of platforms using multidisciplinary tools. The hybrid creator brings new and collaborative ways of working [...] it is relatively easy to cross these lines by any artist as the means of creation are easier to acquire.' (Walter, S. of OneDotZero, in D-Fuse, 2006, p. 46) The expansion into new disciplines was meant to satisfy the need and curiosity for new technology and experimentation. VJs are taking and influencing other cultures. This meant that the VJ culture was losing its identity. VJs were no longer describing themselves as VJs and were using descriptions from other disciplines to describe what they are and what the do. "With nothing progressive to say or do, subcultures stylists draw from and feed off each other in a cannibalistic orgy of cross-fertilization, destroying their own internal boundaries through the very act of expansion." (Muggleton, D. in Redhead, 1998, p. 177) The development of technology itself has had a big influence on the work VJs were producing. Following every new technological improvement, the VJ was keen to be the first to 'wow' the crowds with new technology based visuals and interactive displays that have not been seen by the public. Building new installations for events and developing new ways to produce graphics have become an art form itself. The machines generated the visuals with less and less direct control from the visual operator and the visual content that is displayed on the screen is not as important as the process of creating it. 'If you look at the development of the software that live visual artists use from a time-line perspective, you can see a real influence of what came before and what after, a clear evolution. Research and design and programming and software are their own art form [...] We're getting to a point where the research and the process of creating tools that enable more artwork to be made is, to me, almost an extension of Performance as Object - sometimes that's as much of an artistic moment as many of the objects, performances, and scores, that come out of it.' (Forde, K. in Spinrad, 2005, pp. 39-40) This creative approach obviously speaks to the art community that is interested in the process and have the tools to understand and evaluate the work based on the methods of creation. The types of visuals are generated from machines will often have a technological "feel" to them and are influencing the link between visuals and technology. |
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