Last friday night, Robb (my partner in [ fladry + jones ] ) and I had a very successful night at Studio 1403 in Nashville. We worked with various dj’s, the most famous of which was Justin Long from Chicago. I had an incredibly good time and have spent some time thinking about being a vj and what it means for my “art” practice.
There has been quite a bit of discussion / murmuring amongst artist as to whether or not vjing in a dance club counts as “art”. I have wondered quite a bit about that myself. After my experiences friday, I am convinced that being a vj (even a club vj) is an important and valid part of my artistic production. I am even much more comfortable with the title vj now.
The on the fly aesthetic decisions, the process, and the immediate audience response of being a vj is unlike anything else I have experienced as an artist. It’s process art for the new century; Pollock as he should have been. It is easily more pertinent and certainly more entertaining than performance art, and it comes with a beat you can dance to. The non-art venue and the non-art audience does not stop the work from being art. It probably makes it more important.
I believe that live video performance is the perfect medium for our times and the vj is the perfect artist. We process, manipulate, comment, and conceptualize the world we live in in real time. Our response to a world full of image and sound may be the only logical one
I go back to this post often to reaffirm what it is I do..
I know and you know..
But the painters don’t know..
I hope it doesn’t come down as us against them.. as you were a painter or something.. uh oh.
Thanks for this post.
I miss the parentheses..