Single-channel video is a

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...

work using a single electronic source, presented and exhibited from one playback device. Electronic sources can be any format of video tape,

DVDs The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

or computer-generated moving images utilizing the applicable playback device (such as a VCR, DVD player or computer) and exhibited using a television monitor, projection or other screen-based device. Historically, video art was limited to unedited video tape footage displayed on a television monitor in a gallery and was conceptually contrasted with both broadcast television and film projections in theatres. As technology advanced, the ability to edit and display video art provided more variations and ''multi-channel video'' works became possible as did multi-channel and multi-layered video installations. However, single-channel video works continue to be produced for a variety of aesthetic and conceptual reasons and the term usually now refers to a single image on a monitor or projection, regardless of image source or production.

History

Artists began working with video technology in the 1960s. The earliest works used television sets as sculptural objects but by the late 1960s video recorders became readily available and artists began experimenting with the potential to record performances and conceptual works addressing the medium itself and critiquing broadcast television and commercial film., . "Busting the tube: A brief history of video art." Feedback: The Video Data Bank Catalogue of Video Art an Artist Interviews (2006): 7-17. As more artists worked with video as a medium the problem of exhibition arose. Not being able to project the image as with film, the playback of video tapes was left to monitors placed in galleries and alternative art spaces. Theoretically and commercially, the video tape created problems as tapes were easily duplicated, with no "original" (although a

master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

did usually exist). Video cooperatives and distribution centres emerged following the

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

model. Unlike film, however, the gallery became the primary venue for video art. As multiple channels became possible, artists continued to work in single-channel, exhibiting in a number of venues beyond the gallery and the term single-channel video has expanded from a video tape played back on a monitor to any work produced from a single electronic source or, in fact, any work consisting of a single moving image regardless of source. Single-channel works that are produced explicitly for playback on a monitor are primarily concerned with narrativeMorse, Margaret. "Video installation art: the body, the image, and the space-in-between." Illuminating video: An essential guide to video art (1990): 477-486. or directly addressing the audience rather than providing an immersive experience found in installation works.

Notable single-channel video works

*''

Double Vision Diplopia is the simultaneous perception of two images of a single object that may be displaced in relation to each other. Also called double vision, it is a loss of visual focus under regular conditions, and is often voluntary. However, when occ ...

'' (1971),

Peter Campus Peter Campus (born 1937 in New York, NY), often styled as peter campus, is an American artist and a pioneer of new media and video art, known for his interactive video installations, single-channel video works, and photography. His work is held i ...

*'' Television Delivers People'' (1973),

Richard Serra Richard Serra (November 2, 1938 – March 26, 2024) was an American artist known for his large-scale Abstract art, abstract sculptures made for Site-specific art, site-specific landscape, urban, and Architecture, architectural settings, a ...

*'' Birthday Suit – with scars and defects'' (1974),

Lisa Steele Lisa Steele (born 1947) is a Canadian artist, a pioneer in video art, educator, curator and co-founder of Vtape in Toronto. Born in the United States, Steele moved to Canada in 1968 and is now a Canadian citizen. She has collaborated exclusivel ...

*'' Semiotics of the Kitchen'' (1975),

Martha Rosler Martha Rosler (born 1943) is an American artist. She is a conceptual artist who works in photography and photo text, video art, video, installation art, installation, sculpture, site-specific art, site-specific and performance art, performance, a ...

*'' Kiss The Girls: Make Them Cry'' (1979),

Dara Birnbaum Dara Nan Birnbaum (October 29, 1946 – May 2, 2025) was an American video and installation artist based in New York City. Birnbaum entered the nascent field of video art in the mid-to-late 1970s, challenging the gendered biases of the period ...

*'' Reverse Television'' (1983),

Bill Viola William John Viola Jr. ( , ; January 25, 1951 – July 12, 2024) was an American video artist whose artistic expression depended upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human ...

*'' Me & Rubyfruit'' (1989 or 1990),

Sadie Benning Sadie T. Benning (born April 11, 1973) is an American artist, who has worked primarily in video, painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and sound. Benning creates experimental films and explores a variety of themes including surveillance, ge ...

References

External links

History and overview of single-channel video and practices
Video art Visual arts media

History

Notable single-channel video works

References

Further reading

External links