Video installation is an interactive piece of art, which is purposely done to interact with the audience.

Many installation artists

use this to make the viewer connect to the work, examples can be found in the work of Susan Hiller, Bill Viola and Marvin Gay
Chetwynds.
Past and Present
There are many Past and present practioners of video installation, one of them being Koreans Nam June Paik along with
Americans Andy Warhol, who both shot various experimental videos in the sixties. Paik designed a project called TV clock,
where twenty four monitors line around the room which each have a Zen band on the screens, each one being slightly more
bent over than one another. With a television opposite to it, this installation I feel shows alot of artistic depth, the technology
he used was ahead of his time so it stood out
compared to alot of other installation in that
decade. Joyce Wieland from Canada was also
experimenting with video in the late sixties
early seventies, she went onto shoot feature
films and documentarys such as The rats life
and diet in north America and the far shore.
During the early eighties, a new wave of artists
appeared, technology at this point was vastly
improving mean it gave artists alot more
experimentation with their work. Bill Viola, one
of the most well known video installation artists
of that decade, along with Gary Hill, both
together, created an installation which appears
to have three different people on it, one of them
being a baby, the second being a man drowning and lastly someone thats dyeing, the installation was named The passing,
this was made a spiritual response to life and death. As you can see clearly in the image, Viola represents this well, he uses
close ups in his image which makes the installation look striking, he allows his audience to come up with their own narrative
for the installation, making it more meaningful to the viewer. I personally think this is one of the most powerful installations I
have seen, personally because I feel each of the images have a really in depth meaning to it, I think this installation allows
the viewer to create their own narrative towards the work.

Technology
Technology has vastly improved over the decades allowing installation
artists to experiment new ways of laying out and creating their work.
From the seventies onwards artists had a lot more access to colour
video which allowed them to express their work using colour more.
From the nighties onwards, digital technology has increased rapidly. A
rise in technology has now meant video installation artists can display
their work in a vast majority of
different ways meaning there work
can stand out from others far more.
There is a vast more range of
projectors and screens which allows
the audience to interact with the art more, meaning the viewer gets more of a visual
experience. The thirty minute piece by Omar fast called 5000ft at its best shows a long
installation of a Birdseye point of view throughout the whole video, which looks down upon
the ground. This type of installation has come a long way since previous artists such as Bill
Viola and Susan Hiller.The main story Omar wanted to pursue is warfare and surveillance, he
used a camera which was attached to a helicopter helped promote Omars work through
moving images. Omars work is shown in the imperial war museum, as you can see one viewer is watching it whilst the room
is dark and they are the only one in there making the viewer feel isolated and intimidated. There is a vast majority of space
from the installation to the viewer which makes them feel on edge since they are the only ones in the room. Omar fast looks
at how the structure of the narrative along with how it changes when its transferred from screen to the viewer. I personally
really like the work of Omar fast because its a lot different from any installation thats ever been done, which makes him
stand out.

The paradise institute tricks the audience into thinking there in a real theatre. From the outside, it looks like a box with a few
chairs in it, however when you step inside it purposely tricks the audience in to thinking there actually there. Created by Janet
Cardiff and George Miller, they investigate immersive environments. Each seat is given headphones for the audience to use,
through this they get as well as a visual experience but also audio, which the artists wanted to explore how sound affects the
visual perception and the body. As the events on screen begin to build up, so does the narrative, building up tension for the
viewer.

Like the work of Viola, an artist who I feel tells and story and uses a narrative and space well is New Yorks Xavier cha who
combines performances from actors in with his video installation work. In his work called Body drama, cha collaborates with
several different actors who perform and twenty minute scene whilst having a bodily
mounted camera attached, this helps capture the actors body language and emotions in
order to convey the narrative to the viewer. Cha wanted the actors to create an experience
of terror and a real that the actors are disturbed by their surroundings. As you can see in
the image, this work I feel tells a story and can manipulate the viewer in many different
ways. The work of this artist is another one of my favourites, I feel his work stands out and
is different from other installations, mainly because he uses people in it. I feel the actors
really portray emotion within his work in order for the viewer to connect with the
installation more, as you can see the artist uses a lot of space around his work, the screen
is positioned in a very dark let lit up environment making the artwork stand out more and
grabs attention. Cha has done this to make the audience feel small and intimidated making it more meaningful and powerful.
One well known installation artists include Susan Hiller, who uses multi-screen videos along with audio which is ground
breaking for the time in which she created it. People that watch Hiller work are slightly older, her work isnt as interactive as
other installations which means younger people are drawn back slightly more. She produced an array of boxes which were
spaced out equally. The reason why the boxes are spread apart from each other is to encourage the viewer to reflect on the
narrative of the object.
Each piece of video installation that is created I feel has a meaning to the viewer in different ways, the ages array, for
example I feel younger people would most likely watch Chas installations as its a new form of video art, the actor is also
young so younger people may feel like they relate to it more than for example Susan Hilliers work, which I feel is aimed at
more older people.

One well know installation artists include Susan Hiller, who uses multi-screen
videos along with audio which is ground breaking for the time in which she
created it. People that watch Hiller work are slightly older, her work isnt as
interactive as other installations which means younger people are drawn back
slightly more. She produced an array of boxes which were spaced out equally.
The reason why the boxes are spread apart from each other is to encourage
the viewer to reflect on the narrative of the object.
Another well-known artist Bill Viola created videotapes to electronic music
performances, his videos are highly recognised and broadcast worldwide. One
of his installations, The Passing, which includes a birth then a man drowning
and then someone dying, is very striking because its so powerful to the
audience. I think this piece of work is one of the best installation work I have
seen, its different and unique from other installations, which is why I think it stands out more. Each of the images are so
different, but how a striking message, the first image is the brightest, the second being the darkest and lastly the one of the
man dying, each picture is different and unique in its own way, which intimidates the view and gives them their own decision
in deciding what the message of the artwork is making it more personal to them.
I feel Xavier Cha has had a real influence on the way my group is presenting are installation work, we are presenting peoples
work from a television, its not related to his work but the formats the same.