into the pill - Issue 6

SELF DESTRUCTION by Angelo Plessas

What happens to video art in the YouTube era? When I was asked to curate the 5th edition of Into the Pill,  instead of choosing artists videos, I made a selection of six  videos that I found on YouTube, and that deal with the theme of self-destruction.

You Tube has created the easiest context for everybody to upload raw or edited videos.You can find innumerous videos from the most experimental to the trashiest. Innummerous and anonymous users become YouTube stars like a lightining. It is not such a matter of who created the video anymore but the one who uploaded it. This is what happens in this compilation too. Just typing a word randomly and different things will come up your screen. This is how I usually find things and this is how I created this compilation.

I inserted the keywords "self-destruct", "self-destruction" or "self-sacrifice" and these videos were indexed in the endless list. The theme acts as a hint for the dilemma that video artists are facing lately: a potential audience of millions or the exclusiveness  and the financial considerations of the art system?

 

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