A personal and expert account of the artists and events that defined the medium's first 50 years, written a true expert in the field 'London's book excites because it brings new artists into a lineage worthy of greater stuff. Her passion for lesser-known figures ... is contagious.' - ARTnews, The Best Art Books of 2020 Since the introduction of portable consumer electronics nearly a half century ago, artists throughout the world have adapted their latest technologies to art-making. This first-hand account by the curator who has been following video art from its beginnings in the late 1960s, when artists first adapted portable consumer technology to art-making, spotlights video's ongoing importance in the art world, tracing the genre's development alongside the advances in technology that have continued to open up new possibilities for artists. London has worked closely and personally with the artists she writes about, who span generations, including Joan Jonas, Nam June Paik, Bill Viola, Shirin Neshat, Pipilotti Rist, Miranda July, Ragnar Kjartansson, and Ian Cheng. The text is both art-historical and personal - weaving together background information and insightful interpretations with unique anecdotes and experiences to trace the history of video art as it transformed into the broader field of media art - from analog to digital, small TV monitors to wall-scale projections, and clunky hardware to user-friendly software. In doing this, she reveals how video evolved from fringe status to be seen as one of the foremost art forms of today.

Square meters of empty toothpaste tubes and bottles of cleaning solution, pencils, balls of wool, or shoes—all of it in neat rows: Waste not, the spectacular installation by Song Dong (*1966) comprising more than ten thousand individual items, traveled around the whole world, inspiriting countless exhibition visitors. The artist’s mother fell into poverty during the Cultural Revolution and compulsively collected everyday objects. The installation arranges everything she accumulated, cataloguing and documenting her life.This is the first volume to provide insight into all of the series of works by the Conceptual artist in which he deals with issues such as consumption, sustainability, memory, or spirituality. Song Dong arranges old doors and windows from demolished buildings to create new living spaces. In Doing Nothing Garden at documenta 12, he transformed a mountain of garbage into an attractive recreation area, or he recreates modern cityscapes out of candy: Eating the City —unhealthy, but yummy. Taking a bite is allowed! Exhibitions: Groninger Museum, Netherlands, 13.6. – 1.11.2015 | Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 5.12.2015 – 6.3.2016

The curator who founded MoMA's video program recounts the artists and events that defined the medium's first 50 years Since the introduction of portable consumer electronics nearly a half century ago, artists throughout the world have adapted their latest technologies to art-making. In this book, curator Barbara London traces the history of video art as it transformed into the broader field of media art - from analog to digital, small TV monitors to wall-scale projections, and clunky hardware to user-friendly software. In doing so, she reveals how video evolved from fringe status to be seen as one of the foremost art forms of today.