"Introduction" and "Video Black--The Mortality of the Image"

The introduction's primarily purpose is to make the reader aware of the book's organization which was divided up into five groups. The History section focuses on the origin of the medium and the errors that come about from trying to declare one definitive history. The Furniture/Sculpture/Architecture section discusses the traditional devices that video art is shown on, like the television, and their purpose as a sculptural element, as well as discussing the locations that display the medium. Audience/Reception deals largely with the idea that despite video being a tool to capture a moment in time, it has plenty of room to misrepresent an event often by representing only "dominant ideologies." Syntax and Genre speaks to the formal aspects of a specific piece's properties and how it functions within the context of the field. Telling Stories seems to discuss how video has the power to express a certain meaning through its qualities.

Video Black starts off with an short anecdote to illustrate Viola's point which is that video by itself is not have the ability to do anything but mindlessly record and observe. He references sacred art and how the landscapes (which are physically "real") are much less important than the spiritual elements of the piece (which can't be confirmed as "real"). He mentions that "the inner and outer worlds have reversed their roles." Viola goes on to discuss that in video, time is the most important material. He mentions how fading to black is natural to humans because it mimics the blackness of our pupils and represents the idea of looking eye to eye while watching a piece.


Viola gives several examples of how video art, like all art, is not to be taken at face value. The religious art he referenced was a great example of how the literal landscape wasn't nearly as important as the spiritual elements of the piece, so much so that often times the landscape would be completely written out. The same can be said for video work; even though we are viewing something that may appear commonplace or "real" we must look past that and see the underlying message of the work. It gives you the opportunity to step into the artist's shoes and see things from their perspective. The idea of the fade to black being a reference to the pupil seemed like a stretch to me a first but the more I thought about it the more I realized that subconsciously I already acknowledged it in my traditional viewing practices. Perhaps I didn't feel that it was specifically the pupil but more so a blink or a final closing of the eyes before sleep; either of these ideologies seem to still fit with the general proposal that Viola offered. They form a bond between the eyes and the screen (which you are viewing with your eyes). This seems to veil the screen and bring on the feeling that you're witnessing these actions firsthand.