I agree with Franklin Einspruch’s remark that the viewer needs to be informed about how to approach a piece of art (in this case video). However it is important the viewers understand the particular syntax of the medium they are looking at. If viewers are looking at video and evaluating it in terms of the inherent characteristics and structure of a film, they will be disappointed every time.
As with most contemporary art, the artists, curators and critics serve as a mediator to educate the public, so that they can appreciate the work.
In terms of video having more overlap than other forms, I don’t think that is true anymore. Postmodernism did a good job of breaking down those boundaries. A case in point is Jack Pierson‘s work at the Rosenwald Wolf Gallery. (Opens tonight) Many traditionalists would argue that what he does is not drawing or painting. Yet he is classified in that category. [image is Pierson’s “Silence,” 2002]
–Colette Copeland
