Are you being served?

Definition of the problem

In the Netherlands it is possible to watch television from early in the morning till late at night. One-third of Dutch households possesses a video player; a predecessor of the art video, the avant-garde film from the beginning of this century, is already three quarters of a century old, video art has existed for more than a generation, it is taught at art colleges, artists specialize in video art, and that video art really is a serious form of art, has even the director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Wim Beeren, recognized. ¹ And yet video an is rarely to be seen.

In the following article we shall see which factors interfere with the accessibility of video art. This will be followed by a description of the current video an marker. Based on this analysis of problems and market, we shall discuss in which way an impulse towards a better accessibility of video could be achieved. This accessibility is determined, among other things, by the product, its price, and its distribution.

'Are you being served'

The product

For many people there has always been a hierarchy in the visual ans, with the art of painting in a leading position. This tradition is evident from the high prices paintings fetch and from the number of exhibitions of paintings. Because of this tradition, video art, a relatively young art form, is accorded a much lower status from the start.

Tradition and the visual arts market still dictate that a work of art which is unique, is of a higher value than a work which is not. Apparently, the prints, photographs and films that appear in editions have not been able to influence this tradition. And yet the art of printing has existed for centuries, not only as an aid in painting, but also as an independent art form. Photography and film, art forms also belonging to the visual arts, are old as well. Although people have become used to them, they are often still considered less interesting forms of art. Art videos also suffer from being a mass product.

In addition, the visual presence of technology in a work of art still evokes more suspicion in some people than a painter's instruments.

Video has also been accused of being dull, abstract, not very entertaining, and too serious. The association with subcultural phenomena is sometimes an impediment for a better acquaintance with video art.

Apart from its nature, video art may also suffer from its form: paintings can be exhibited permanently; by contrast, this is more difficult to realize with video. Many art video images have been recorded on professional systems, not available to the average private person renting a tape. Another technical problem is that in public presentations video makes a rather poor impression, compared with the high quality of film images.

And finally, people who are unacquainted with video are unaware of the difference between art videos and videos from the video shop.

'Are you being served?'

The price

For watching, renting or selling video art, a price must be paid and money must be received. For private persons the often low entrance fee of a public presentation is no problem. Renting videos -compared to the video shop or the library- on the other hand, is less attractive, because of the high prices.

Distribution

Several indicators determining the quality of the distribution of video art can be distinguished, such as the number of places for presentation, frequency of the presentations, the presentation itself, the accessibility of video collections and possibilities for renting and selling.

Suppliers of video tapes feel that the number of places where videos can be shown is rather limited in The Netherlands. Fortunately for the video viewers, the decision of the Ministry of Welfare, Health and Cultural Affairs (advised by the Arts Council) to restrict the grants for the presentation of video art to one single institution, has not led to a defeatist but to a militant attitude. At the same time the continuation of these organizations and therefore of the distribution of video art has become less secure.

The number of museums presenting video art is small as well. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam has been a positive exception for quite a few years already. Presentations of video art are organized there from time to time and The Luminous Image (1984) attracted a great deal of attention. Yet most other museums hardly ever present video art.

Commercial art galleries, like museums and the authorities, are not very interested in video art. The number of galleries that regularly present and sell video art is small.

Dutch television, conspicuous for the absence of cultural programs, hardly pays attention to video art.

The frequency of presentations of video art in the video institutions is not especially low, but a higher frequency would make it possible to drop in and see a video. It would not be difficult to improve the presentation of video art. For instance, by a coherent selection of videos, comfortable seats, a good location, in quiet surroundings, with information about what is being shown, and how the spectators can select videos themselves.

Museum collections of video art are not very accessible, yet watching tapes ought to be as easy as leafing through books.

It is certainly possible to rent and sell video art, but an increase in the number of sellers (e.g. galleries) would still have a beneficial effect, because it would enhance the acceptance of video art by a potentially interested public.

The market for video art

The market for presentation, rental and sale of video art is part of a visual arts market that has existed for centuries. Characteristic for this market is that in most cases each work of art can be clearly distinguished from other works of art (copies of a video are here seen as one and the same work of art). In other words, there is a great differentiation in products on the video market. In addition, videos can be copied, as has already been mentioned above, and belong to the market segment of reproducible works of art, just like prints. Finally, art video as a category is relatively young, about twenty-five years old.

Compared with other art forms, the price of video art is low. This price is not determined by production costs, but by what the consumer is willing to pay for it, and what the producer would like to get for it.

Producers are usually specialized video artists. Their number will increase rapidly in the future, as video is now incorporated in the syllabus on art schools in Holland.

Although most people are accustomed to daily television productions, which demand an entirely different attitude of the viewer, and although video art is held in lower esteem than other art forms, interest in video art is increasing.

Based on these characteristics, we can draw a tentative conclusion about the stage of the development of the video market. Taking into account the number of presentations, and of rented and sold videos in a given period, we can distinguish the following stages (for simplicity's sake): introduction, growth, maturation, saturation, and decay. The introduction phase is probably almost finished at this time: video art has recovered from its teething troubles, has had its first real successes as regards contents, and is distributed internationally. Video art has gained respect, says video artist Nan Hoover. The Netherlands do not lag behind in this development, according to some video. distributors and artists. On the contrary, more and more opportunities arise, interest is growing, and relatively speaking, more video art is produced in The Netherlands than for instance in the United States and Canada. The next phase, growing up, seem about to dawn: supply will increase more rapidly, and so will demand, and the technical possibilities and the quality of video players and recorders will be further improved.

In addition, growth seems to be stable in The Netherlands, because in spite of restrictive measures by the Ministry of WVC, most productions and presentations continue. Also, the interest in video as a medium for visual art has increased more rapidly than has been the case with photography and film. Even though many art historians still feel rather uncomfortable when faced with this 'new' art form, this attitude seems to be changing, as amongst others the issue of Mediamatic proves.

'Are you being served?'

Orientation towards the public

Video art has outgrown the first stage in its development, and appears to have a potential for the future. It would be useful therefore, to pay some attention, not only to the video product itself, but also to the potentially interested part of the public. This would benefit all those involved with video art, especially in view of the current market philosophy of possible sponsors, such as governments and business firms.

The importance of an orientation aimed at the public for the achievement of their objects, has been recognized in the past by museums and business firms. Since the beginning of this century, when their collections acquired an interesting and respectable size, Dutch museums have begun to interest themselves not only in their works of art, but also in their public. Their activities have shifted steadily, although in an unstructured and marginal fashion, from being merely directed at the object, to a more public-orientated attitude, especially since 1945. ² Already at an earlier stage, after the Industrial Revolution, an analogous development has taken place in business firms in The United States and Europe, from an orientation towards a technically perfect production to an orientation towards distribution and potential consumers.

An increased interest in the public does not imply that we should attempt to achieve a situation in which every Tom, Dick and Harry are watching video art. On the contrary, this would be a waste of energy. Instead, the object is to allow the organization or person who shows, rents or sells video art to achieve his goal better (more effectively) and with less effort and means (more efficiently). And because each of these organizations or persons, depending on their object, will want to reach one or more segments of the public, it will be useful to get to know these groups better, in order 10 communicate with them more effectively.

A closer acquaintance with the public requires market research. A more flexible communication can be achieved by dealing more consciously with the means of communication: product, price, distribution and promotion. That art video itself can be a means of communication does not imply that video should conform to the desires of a certain public; it does imply that a video is offered to those who are potentially interested, and later might become really interested.

^{Translation: Fokke Sluiter}

^Notes

^{1 Beeren, Wim Video en beeldende kunst in: The luminous image cat. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 1984}

^{Blotkamp, Hoos, e.a., Film en beeldende kunst 1900-1930, cat. Central Museum, Utrecht 1979}

^{2 Collette, Pablo, Musea in Nederland en marketing, em onderzoek naar mogelijkheden van een systematische publieksbenadering,}

^{doctoraalscriptie, Groningen 1983,20-32}

^{I am grateful to Renè Coelho (Montevideo), Adriaan van der Have (gallery Torch), Nan Hoover (artist) and Rob Perrèe (Time Based Arts)}