future of VJ'S

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Ruud
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future of VJ'S

Post by Ruud »

what do you think...

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bart
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Post by bart »

AV?

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Post by MtB »

vj's, vjing will evolve I guess...
I mean, vj's will develop new skills like, getting expert on motion graphic design bla bla. and will become the new designers of the new interactive era. preparing clips, presenting them will become, creating uniqe art, real time with a spirit.

dunno that we (or as an 32yrs old guy, me :-) will see this era, but vj's will be in a very important position in the art of the future...

have a nice future :)

t.

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VJair
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Post by VJair »

you might wanna check vjforums.com.....
they have had some good discussions on the future of vj's, the impact of dvj's and so on....

continuity-B
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Post by continuity-B »

Some VJ's are already experts at motion graphics, fine art etc and I think this area will see a great increase in this activity just like video art did when the portapak came about from the late 60s due to cheapness and availibility of equipment. I recently visited the RCA in London and was very excited by the fact they now teach performance video in their Communication Art & Design MA course. People really are beginning to see VJing as a credible form of video media within art.

VJing, although pefect for use within the (broadly speaking) context of fine art, graphic design or illustration, does not grant you these skills, in the same way a set of paints or a copy of photoshop wouldn't. They only come (to the VJ) when these practices are learned themselves and brought to work in relation to VJing, or video as a whole.

You don't need an MA by a LONG shot but if your really into it, why not do something about it, even a short course at a local arts centre - drawing, photography, animation, film-making, sculpture, writing etc, etc it doesn't matter. Learn creative processes and bring them to VJing.

There's nothing wrong with anyone VJing, don't get me wrong (and especially not if it gets you on the road to creativity as a way of life) but if you're serious about pushing the scene forwards in a creatively high minded way you really want skills that transcend knowledge of resolume or your equipment.

That said, an increase in the availability of equipment will mean more people overall can VJ, which will probably see a proliferation mediocre VJs with little or no talent, design or otherwise - Which is true of anything when mainstream culture gets its mitts on it.

In conclusion, I think there will be an explosion in VJing at both ends with a marked difference between 'good' and 'bad', 'high' culture and 'low'/popular culture occurences, which we're not too far off from today.
Of course there is 'bad' art/design in 'high culture' (for want of a better term) and there is 'good' art/design in popular culture - Tibor Kalman springs to mind as one of the most important graphic designers in recent time who had no formal design training - as I am sure a lot of good will come of VJing within popular culture. But as a general rule, I think the realy good sh8t (can I swear?) is going to come from the people with some kind of training in the creative arts.

I had no idea I was going to write so much and I hope I've not upset some people, I don't mean to, but that's what I think.

[Edited on 14-4-2005 by continuity-B]

continuity-B
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Post by continuity-B »

btw - Was that a teaser Bart?

Why did you say AV?

Are you planning something for res? :)

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bart
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AV

Post by bart »

well we think that the future of vj-ing lies in more integrated audio & visuals. The best examples of vj-ing we have seen so far are colcut, the light surgeons, eboman, bong-ra, drifter, etc. and they are all AV acts. Just wondering if you guys agree on this or not.

About people with a training in the creative arts, we indeed see more and more people with a traditional training (or a background) in arts, film, motion or graphic design move into vj-ing. And this is raising the level of vj-ing tremendously. This has to do with vj-ing becomming much more simple then is was 5 years ago. Most pioneers in vj-ing were people with a technical background that just know how to use the traditional equipment in a different way. Now that there are specialized tools for vj-ing (resolume and others) it opens possibilities for the less technically inclined vjs.

continuity-B
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Post by continuity-B »

I agree with you on the AV.

And certainly these guys are the broadly the best at VJing. The VJ, as we understand it, performs a function in the club, or club derived environment in the case of say a coldcut AV performance (sort of integrated dj/vj)

But I think the kind of VJing that occurs outside the club, performance video in-and-of-itself, will evolve separately in the art world with a different set of rules in the way an artist's film is different to a hollywood film. Instead of just being entertaining we'll probably see video that strives to be ugly, boring or shocking as well as bizzare and unsettling spatial and temporal arrangements, just like video art of the past. And AV is essential for this - artists don't make video without audio (except as a marked choice).

There's plenty scope for crossover I think for the club / artist VJ, things aren't that black and white but awareness of these different functions is important I think.

My point is, I suspect both kinds of practitioners would want AV.

Resolume is powerful and simple, without being a toy, and like you say opens up a lot of possibilities. AV would be the best thing you could do for it in my opinion for the future of the VJ.

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Post by levon »

i think the use of visuals will come to be more 'customized' for each specific club, so the visuals go with the actual club. and hopefuly clubs will have different styles of visuals to other clubs, so people might start choosing the club they goto based on the visuals. even if its on a sub concious level. bands, from tool, nelly rem, RHCP, Powderfinger, radiohead, Bspears etc are having visuals now, posibly more bands/artist will start getting visuals, and not just clips controlled by the lighting guy, a VJ to work with the artist to create a visual representation of the music.

that is how i am hoping visuals will go, as i perfer doing visuals for bands rather then clubs.

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Post by VJ555 »

Originally posted by bart
well we think that the future of vj-ing lies in more integrated audio & visuals. The best examples of vj-ing we have seen so far are colcut, the light surgeons, eboman, bong-ra, drifter, etc. and they are all AV acts. Just wondering if you guys agree on this or not.
Completely agree bart, in fact i predominatly work with one guy ( teh DXU out of DXU:555 ) and it's a total AV set were are striving for, a better and more integrated association of the sound and the visual. To be honest I also ind it far more satisfying, you can concentrate on one set and really do something quite special. We are now putting together our first DVD as a formal release and intend to do it only as DVD, thus emphasing the integration and "oneness" of the AV aspect. We'll see........

Alan

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