Background:
‘VJing is a cultural form that brings together art and technology, expression and technique, skill and inspiration, planning and spontaneity.’ - John Walker VJs.net
Vjing began in the 1960’s. Andy Warhol hosted a Happening in 1966 and myth has it that this was the first time sound and moving image were displayed together in a festive context. Warhol’s silent movies were projected as The Velvet underground played their sets. The trend grew exponentially and by 1981, MTV was born. Whenever Pop artists released a single, they had vast amounts of promotional material and this now always included a music video.
The rise of the DJ, in the 1990’s meant that visual artists and designers soon latched on to the term, and at this moment, the perception of a VJ changed. Now the term defined live performer, producer, visual/video curator and so on. This also coincided with the ‘dot-com’ bust enabling people to get hold of cheap projectors and other electronics as companies needed to discard their ‘machines.’
Into the 2000’s, with easier access to portable electronics, a greater variety of artists and designers entered into this method of storytelling and helped expand and proliferate the VJ community. A New York VJ Artist Benton C. Bainbridge explains in an article on solu.org, (Solu is a Barcelona based visual agitator and cultural activist. She has performed live in Sonar festival in Barcelona), “The VJ scene is exploding in large part due to the accessibility of ever more powerful and cheaper tools like digital camcorders and real-time laptop applications.”
Technology software and Copyright:
‘The single most useful tool in the VJ’s arsenal is the internet. Through the web, countless grassroots VJ collectives have enjoyed international recognition.’ – vjtheory.net/
In a present day context, artists such as YourMum and Raya have through their art, gained relative notoriety and enough financial reward to travel to technologically underprivileged countries showing ‘global awareness’ themed videos and art. This philosophy can be found in almost every audio/visual artist today as they use the Internet as their main source of exposure.
There are many places on the Internet where artists and designers, collectives and businesses can display their work. Many of which operate with a ‘social network’ element. Sites and organizations like DeviantArt.com, Vimeo.com, Youtube.com, Conceptart.org and myspace.com all fall under this category.
‘We provide content owners with the ability to control the use of their content on YouTube. Because content owners have the right to change their mind about how their content is displayed on our site.’ - youtube.com/t/copyright_permissions
YouTube have introduced a copyright system called ‘Content ID.’ Businesses, companies, artists and designers sign up to control Blocking, Monetize, or Track Viewing Metrics through an automated service hosted by YouTube, and It's Free. YouTube has essentially created an advanced set of copyright policies and content management tools to give rights holders control of their content. Providing content management solutions for rights holders of all sizes across the world and the tools necessary to cater to specific needs of various rights owners.
YouTube states it allows its users to,
‘identify user-uploaded videos comprised entirely or partially of their content, and choose, in advance, what they want to happen when those videos are found. Make money from them. Get stats on them. Or block them from YouTube altogether.’ - youtube.com/t/contented
Companies deliver YouTube referenced files (audio-only or video) of content they own and metadata describing that content. Furthermore they dictate the policies on how they want YouTube to react.
They compare videos uploaded to YouTube against those reference files.
This is clearly a great thing for people or businesses publishing on YouTube as they are in control. This is not available amongst all content publishing sites. Vimeo is a competitor to YouTube and has a copyright policy far less substantial. The copyright page of vimeo.com states,
‘Vimeo respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. Each user is responsible for ensuring that the materials they upload to the Vimeo Site do not infringe any third party copyright.’ -http://vimeo.com/dmca
Vimeo will promptly remove materials from their site in accordance with the DMCA if properly notified that the material infringed a third party's copyright. Vimeo may also terminate the accounts of the culprits. This is the extent of their involvement with this issue. Leaving it entirely up to third parties to be forthcoming with information, and this is not always reliable.
Copyright can also be an issue for audio/visual artists when it comes to software. Unlicensed software attained through illegal downloads or, inappropriately licensed software (student software being used for commercial purposes) could result in legal consequences. On the other hand, Microsoft executive Jeff Raikes has been cited stating ‘If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else."
Bill Gates has also said ‘as long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.’
As a general rule of thumb, for designers and artists wanting to exercise good practice, it is appropriate to ask before using others content and abide by Creative Commons licenses or applicable copyright law to avoid any potential legal ramifications.
Examining ways into industry
With a/v artists, freelancers, companies and businesses being created all over the world, it seems appropriate to analyze what is happening and where, as different places have aesthetic specialties and cultural styles that should be observed. According to vjcentral.net, In the U.S.A, a/v artists are commonly found in new media art galleries, suggesting that there are more freelance and independent collectives producing work. This can be clearly correlated with the direction Anti-Vj have taken over the last 5 years. Performing installations at festivals and at galleries has resulted in them designing and producing the new 3d ‘Hyundai’ advert which was first seen projected onto the side of a building on the day of its release. In Japan however, a/v artists are strongly associated with graphic design and architecture. Ryoji Ikeda is an example of this, reproducing data patterns in a visual context that are heavily graphical. This can be seen in his work ‘Test Pattern.’
There are also a lot of European collectives, especially from Germany. Phadfinderei, Dienststelle, MindConsole and La Vue VJ collective to name a few.
The U.K however leans heavily towards live performance visuals and their relationship to audio or live music. Early practitioners Matt Black and Hextatic through to more contemporary artists like Quayola or collectives like D-fuse and The Light Surgeons, who all explore audios relationship to moving image.
Examining ways into industry: Phadfinderei
There are various types of outfits that are applicable to the area of investigation. There appears to be a correlation between artists operating in a collective, but also having more fractionalised or personal endeavors operating simultaneously. This appears indicative of many of the outfits talked about previously and relates directly to the places and environments they exhibit and audience they reach. Take for example Phadfinderei. Starting out in 1999 as a Berlin-based vector orientated design team and soon expanded to a group of 7 that shared an aggressive passion for live music visualisation, nowadays they are planning, creating, and performing full-scale visual installations, having expanded onto the world's cultural stage. Members range from specialising in typography, art direction, video art, animation, strategic visual planning and design production.
In 2004, 3 members collaborated with producers Modeselektor to produce a series of a/v pieces. Still under the umbrella of Phadfinderei, it was specifically designated to its 3 most appropriate members to maximise efficiency and the effectiveness of execution.
Similarly, in 2009, Phadfinderei and Moderat collaborated to do a series of live action and 3d animation work syncopated with Moderat’s album and released as a single entity. This time however, still under the guise of Phadfinderei, 3 different members of the collective were delegated the responsibility. This is a good example of a business being fluid in the delegation of work to the person(s) with the most appropriate skill set and knowledge base for the job at hand. This also allows Phadfinderei as a collective to be able to produce a much wider range of aesthetics through both content and style, thus reaching more people than an otherwise less diverse outfit. This is a tried and tested ‘operation technique,’ as for 12 years they have been held in high regard to their contemporaries, producing over 100 pieces in motion graphics, graphics, installations and typography art. This method or approach is used by many of the artists and designers working as collectives in the field today.
An interesting aspect of Phadfinderei’s business attitude is they don’t use samples purely to avoid copyright issues. Meaning the content they create is original. This ultimately filters down into either a creative handicap or challenge depending on the angle of observation. In an interview with Micheal Faulkner of D-Fuse, a spokesperson for Phadfinderei is quoted as saying, ‘we don’t use samples, and we don’t like people to sample our work without our agreement.’ This is completely different to Mondos’ position on this who states in an interview in Audio visual art and VJ culture ‘50% of our content is sampled, copied and shared, 50% is self created.’
Copyright and sampling is still a grey area. Many people sample, but with Creative Commons licenses and copyright, if caught the legal consequences would be disastrous.
This could be down to the level of notoriety and financial status of an outfit as well as other factors.
Examining ways into industry: D-Fuse
The most interesting aspect of D-fuses’ approach is how diverse the environments they have exhibited in are. In an interview with Faulkner (founder) in Audio/visual art and Vj culture he is asked where they exhibit their work.
His response,
‘almost everywhere, it is in the nature of our work, we are effectively providing content – every source is our arena. We have produced a number of DVD’s, Smaller ones such as D-tonate, in conjunction with OneDotZero. These led to higher profile projects such as the Beck DVD and live tour. We also present live a/v events. We have released ringtones in Japan and Russia and we create a/v installations for galleries that explore specific themes, Small Global and Undercurrent are currently being exhibited in NYC and Holland.’ – The art of Vj and Vj culture
As illustrated here, its imperative to keep an open mind about diversification and to adopt a lateral approach to marketing and advertising. This has been essential to D-Fuses success.
Faulkner is also asked to talk about how he got into the industry.
He alleviates that that after his Art Foundation, his career began as a Graphic designer. Working for a company, whilst at the same time designing record sleeves for electronica labels in his spare time. From this they then got offered a residency at Scratch, an electronic event run by Leaf. He states
‘it was a slow build up and hard work. This had definitely had to do with equipment more than anything as there were hardly any video projectors.’
This clearly illustrates that there are many different ways into this area of industry and the most important factor in each case is a lateral approach to thinking about your medium for exposure. It also reaffirms how interwoven technology is in the progression of this art form.
Local Industry:
Leeds, Manchester, and London. Moving image and animation festivals, studios, non-profit organizations and collectives.
Leeds:
Test Space:
A not for profit arts organisation seeking new designers and actively encouraging collaborations.
‘We are always looking for challenging, interesting and original creative people, businesses or organisations to work with.’ - testspaceleeds.com
They provide opportunities for emerging creatives to showcase work, whilst aiding artists and designers in professional endeavours with businesses, venues, studios and other arts organisations.
They have run a variety of music, arts and culture showcases and events taking over venues, galleries and shops.
Organisations like these are an incredibly valuable asset to new designers and small businesses. Designers have the opportunity to gain valuable insights into industry as well as having an opportunity to display their work. Gaining awareness from a wider audience, which could lead to an opportunity in industry. For small business, it is a method of being exposed to high quality content from exuberant new designers.
Light Night:
Light Night is an annual art festival that incorporates multiple venues across Leeds. It is a showcase for a range of diverse creative endeavours and gives visitors free access to art they otherwise might not have experienced.
Coordinated by Leeds City Council’s Arts and Regeneration team, it gets contributions from different Leeds-based arts organisations such as small community groups, education establishments, arts collectives and individuals, artists, students and the general public.
The application process is accessible, however it has been revised since the 2010 Light Night. Under the ‘getting involved’ section of their website it states, ‘feedback has shown us that audiences would prefer fewer events, and while we aim to be inclusive, we cannot include every proposal, so need details from all applicants to help us choose which projects will be accepted into this year's programme.’
This may sound restrictive, however it allows the applicant to control much more of their project, whilst at the same time aiding Light Night in their search for great art, and also enhances the festivals interaction with the public in listening to their request.
For inclusion in the Light Night program, there is an ‘Expression of Interest’ form that must be completed and returned by the 3rd May.
Light Night also have the resources to facilitate funding for certain projects saying ‘the maximum amount awarded will be £1,000, with the majority being under £500. The average award in 2010 was around £400.’ This gives artists more incentive to apply, get involved and ‘think beyond their means,’ i.e create work they may not have previously been able to afford to complete without this resource. It’s a great festival to display and sell work, meet contemporaries, to network and potentially collaborate, and meet people from industry.
Manchester:
The Cornerhouse:
Manchester's international centre for contemporary visual arts and film. It’s open seven days a week and has 3 floors of contemporary art galleries, 3 screens showing independent cinema, a bar, cafe and a bookshop. They also have a publications department, an international distribution service for contemporary arts books and catalogues.
The Cornerhouse is a social hub for creatives in and around Manchester. For up and coming designers they also offer, ‘a programme aimed at supporting, informing and helping creative industry practitioners and those who aspire to enter the industry.’ - cornerhouse.org
They have a range of workshops, talks, opportunities and events to develop skills, enhance network opportunities and encourage innovative thinking.
FutureEverything:
Funded with support from the European Commission FutureEverything
create Digital Innovation projects, using creativity, participation and new technologies to deliver business and research solutions.
In 2010 the FutureEverything Award was introduced. An internationally recognised award for artworks, social innovations or software and technology projects. The company also hosts a festival in Manchester from the 11th to the 14th of May costing £180 per ticket that has become increasingly popular and profitable.
London:
OneDotZero:
Is a London based moving image and digital arts organisation that commissions and promotes innovation across all aspects of digital art. Founded in 1996, it is most well renowned for its annual Adventures in Motion’ festival that is ‘known for representing a diverse array of artistic endeavour,’ and for having a ‘cross media and collaborative approach attuned to technological advances and fast paced change within digital arts and the contemporary culture landscape.’ – OneDotZero.com
Another accessible event for video and a/v artists alike and a great platform for networking and displaying work to peers and contemporaries.
Summary:
There are many different ways of entering the industry and only a few have been examined. From getting involved with non-profit organisations, progressive media festivals and competitions. Most importantly using the web advantageously whilst being aware of copyright issues. Locally and Internationally, the a/v industry is thriving and with technology advancing and becoming ever more affordable, the opportunities are endless.
Bibliography:
CORNERHOUSE (2009) Cornerhouse [website] Available from: http://www.cornerhouse.org/ [06.05.11]
D-FUSE (2011) D-FUSE [website] Available from: www.dfuse.com [08.05.11]
DV INFO (2011) the digital video information network [website] Available from: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/open-dv-discussion/136285-vimeo-copyright-useage.html [19.04.11]
GATES, C (2008) VAGUE TERRAIN 09: RISE OF THE VJ [website]
Available from: http://vagueterrain.net/journal09 [01.05.11]
HUMPHRIES, M (2009) Vimeo sued for promoting copyright infringement. [website] Available from: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/vimeo-sued-for-promoting-copyright-infringement-20091216/ [20.04.11]
MARKETING LEEDS (2008) Light Night Leeds [website] Available from: http://www.lightnightleeds.co.uk/8_GettingInvolved.html [10.05.11]
ONEDOTZERO (2010) adventures in moving image [website] Available from: http://www.onedotzero.com/ [12.05.11]
PFADFINDEREI (2011) Motion / Moderat [website] Available from: http://www.pfadfinderei.com/motion/moderat [13.04.11]
PFADFINDEREI (2011) Motion / Moderat [website] Available from: http://www.pfadfinderei.com/motion/labland [13.04.11]
SOLU (2011) VJ Culture: From Loop Industry To Real Time Scenarios [website]
Available from: http://www.solu.org/text_VJ_Culture.html [07.05.11]
TEST SPACE (2011) Test Space [website] Available from: www.testspaceleeds.com [10.05.11]
VIMEO (2011) Video Sharing For You [website] Available from: http://vimeo.com/dmca [20.04.11]
VJCENTRAL (2011) VJCentral [website] Available from: http://vjcentral.net/ [01.5.11]
VJTHEORY (2011) VJ theory [website] Available from: http://www.vjtheory.net/ [29.04.11]
WIKIPEDIA (2011) VJ_(video_performance_artist) [website] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VJ_(video_performance_artist)[10.04.11]
WIKIPEDIA (2011) Video_art [website] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_art [10.04.11]
YOUTUBE (2011) Content ID [website] Available from: http://www.youtube.com/t/contentid [26.04.11]
Books:
Faulkner. M. (2006) Audio-video art and VJ culture: Laurence king Publishing Ltd
Extended reading:
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