Critical Writing Index

We Are Here, We Could Be Everywhere: Freewaves and the Use Value of Video History

by Kenneth Rogers

Video on the Loose, 2010, pp. 14-43

This article reevaluates early video art focusing on the temporality of the medium. Rogers investigates Nam June Paik's first-generation Portapak recording as a unique unknowable object which if tempered with, could destroy the piece's value as an object rather than an artifact of early video art. He extends this observation with the LA Freewaves Festival and its impact on the cultural, social, political context of Los Angeles and new video technology. This insight is used to address the value of video history and to critically engage with the content.

ITEM 2010.135 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

1965 RecordingNam June Paik