The Evolution of Screen-Mediated Art: From Renaissance Windows to Augmented Reality
The essence of AR lies in its ability to overlay our direct sensory experiences with digitally augmented elements, creating a composite view that blurs the lines between what's real and what's computer-generated. This integration often leads to a suppression of raw reality, as the augmented components modify or enhance our perception of the world.
In AR, our interaction with reality is mediated through devices that pre-process and reinterpret our surroundings before we even perceive them. These devices—equipped with cameras and sensors—scan our environment, interpret the data in real-time, and augment our visual field with virtual objects or information layers. This process involves complex algorithms that analyze a myriad of data points, such as our location, viewing angle, and even personal data like browsing histories and digital preferences stored in the form of cookies and other digital footprints.
These machines act autonomously, operating in a realm beyond our direct control or understanding. They read and interpret the digital codes and histories that are opaque to us, and then selectively compile and display visual information. This selective rendering is done without our direct awareness of the computational processes involved, making the augmented layer of reality feel seamlessly integrated with the physical world.
The concept of screen-mediated art viewing stretches back far beyond the invention of photographic media, deeply rooted in art history. Artistic screens have often carried both a tangible presence and an implied virtual dimension, a notion that can be traced back to the Renaissance. Leon Battista Alberti's influential concept from the 15th century described the canvas or screen as a window opening onto a space "beyond the frame," setting a foundational idea for virtual representation in art.
Historically, various forms of visual media like camera obscura, shadow shows, magic lantern projections, panoramas, dioramas, and peep-show-based attractions have utilized screens in diverse ways. These screens served as platforms for displaying artistic creations and positioned viewers in a specific relationship to the artwork, emphasizing observation and engagement through a mediated interface.
This tradition of screen-based art presentation has evolved over centuries, leading up to contemporary digital and film screens. Today's screen-based art forms are part of a long continuum of artistic practice that involves the production and reception of art through mediated views, reinforcing the screen's enduring role in shaping our experience of visual culture.
A significant transformation in art spectatorship emerged in the mid-1960s with the integration of mass media screens into environmental artworks, or "installations," initiating a deep exploration of art and media technologies. Although installation art is a familiar concept within art history, it merits a brief explanation.
Installation art typically intersects with post-1960s genres like fluxus, land art, minimalism, video art, performance, conceptual art, and process art. These genres collectively emphasize themes such as site specificity, participation, institutional critique, temporality, and ephemerality. Installation artworks are immersive sculptural environments that engage viewers both spatially and temporally. The experience of the viewer within these activated spaces is integral to the artwork, designed to evolve during the interaction rather than being fully absorbed at a glance. Installations that incorporate media screens are particularly striking; they create dynamic environments where viewers interact with both the spatial and temporal aspects of screens and technology, fostering a new mode of screen-dependent spectatorship.
This concept can be paralleled with the shift to networked digital imagery, starting with live video and expanding into Augmented Reality (AR). AR represents a pioneering form of screen media in the network age, characterized by the real-time manipulation of live media. This evolution is not just about transmitting movies or recording digital media, but about harnessing live manipulation as the core of the medium. With this perspective, we can reevaluate the historical transition from traditional film imagery to networked digital imagery, understanding it as a material shift in how media is experienced and interacted with.
Tracing the Evolution of Video Art: From 1970s Experimental Media to Augmented Reality
The exploration of video art in the 1970s can be likened to what might now be considered 'proto-Augmented Reality' (proto-AR). Drawing parallels to the proto-cinema concepts discussed by Stephen Heath, video art is fundamentally about its apparatus, which defines and locates the genre within its context. For instance, Bill Viola’s work "Ocean Without a Shore" (2007), as described on the James Cohen Gallery’s website, involves a "Color High-Definition video triptych, two 65″ plasma screens, one 103″ screen mounted vertically, six loudspeakers (three pairs stereo sound)." Similarly, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) catalogs Peter Campus' 1975 video artwork "Dor" as a "closed-circuit color video installation," but to truly understand the piece, it is noted that "A discreet video camera is placed near the entrance, filming visitors entering and exiting the space; their live image is projected onto an adjacent wall." These are not merely video works characterized by light, subjects, scenes, or even images; they are complex assemblies of wires, capture devices, and rendering screens.
Video is traditionally recognized as a medium that uses magnetic tape to synchronize sound and visuals. This technology also differentiates the types of cameras used: film cameras capture images through a photochemical process, whereas video cameras convert light and sound into electrical signals using electronic components like tubes or, more commonly now, silicon chips. Filmmakers have embraced these technologies, employing video editing and laser disc transfers in post-production to improve the speed and precision of editing footage. In contrast to film, which records each frame as a continuous analog image of the scene, digital media represent visual and audio information as binary data—sequences of ones and zeros. This digital format does not allow for visual interpretation like film.
The shift to digital storage represents a move away from traditional film to a broader category of media based on computer technology. Unlike film, video media are not solely reliant on the camera. They move past the traditional frame-by-frame imagery of photography and film and go beyond the standardized television formats. This evolution permits extensive electronic manipulation, allowing changes to the scale, shape, direction, and size of images beyond typical broadcasting standards like NTSC and PAL. In the 1970s, early video art required live performance to explore these capabilities, using techniques like video signal circulation, temporal delays, and recursive loops (delayed feedback). These experiments demonstrated video's unique ability to capture and actively manipulate reality in real-time.
As video technology evolved, more sophisticated live-feedback systems were developed. However, it wasn't until the advent of processors with memory and programming capabilities that the similarities and differences between simple plug-in devices and programmable devices, and between video and computers, became clear. Initially, video and computer interactions in the 1970s involved analogue computers, as digital computers suitable for processing electronic lines only emerged around 1980.
Dan Sandin, a video pioneer, was instrumental in bridging the gap between analogue and digital technologies. In 1972, he developed the Analog Image Processor, which allowed for the modulation of video signals in various ways and the combination of multiple operations. This early experimentation showed that video could incorporate functions typically associated with analogue computers, allowing artists to manipulate the visual information of the image field beyond the standard frame format of television. This set video apart from television aesthetically and laid the groundwork for later digital computer graphics through abstraction and a departure from strictly photographic functions.
Sandin played a key role in the transition from analogue to digital by explaining how video signals encode information. At the end of each scan line, and particularly at the end of the bottom line, the signal resets to the starting position. This adjustment requires horizontal synchronization pulses at the end of each line and vertical synchronization pulses at the end of the bottom line, all generated by the camera. The actual video information is encoded in the scanning lines that run from left to right.
While early video effects were live-processed and unpredictable, pioneers developed devices to better control signal manipulation and modulation. In contrast, digital effects are generated through numeric operations and are more structured and systematic, controlled by both the program and the programmer. Although digital processes can sometimes produce uncontrollable, chaotic outcomes, they are inherently different from video because they are non-linear and not bound by time. In the digital realm, modifications can occur from any direction and in multiple dimensions, and operations can be reversed, such as in morphing techniques. Overall, the aesthetic differences between line-processing effects in video and those achieved through mathematical programming in digital formats are significant.
Media Art, as noted by media philosopher Lars Qvortrup, can often be described as a collection of ready-mades—a computer, a projector, a screen, a camera—all components standing alone yet interconnected. Augmented Reality (AR) art takes this concept further, transforming these ready-mades into a complex art of apparatus. In AR, these technical objects are not merely static; they interact, broadcasting and looping signals in real time, creating an ongoing circuit of communication.
Unlike traditional cinema, which manipulates reality through scripting, set design, and direction, AR provides a direct live stream from the camera, augmenting the 'reality' it captures. Instead of a passive screen within a theater, AR uses monitors or AR glasses, creating an invisible, immersive screen that envelops the viewer, effectively making the viewer's environment the theater itself. Replacing cinematic montage, AR employs a "scene generator" to craft virtual augmentations not present in the initial video capture. Moreover, instead of a traditional projector, a "combiner" in AR merges these augmentations with the live video stream, crafting a blended reality.
In AR, viewers are aware they are observing a mediated image—not reality itself—but might not be conscious of the underlying computational processes refining the video. Issues like jitter or rendering problems disrupt the illusion, pulling viewers out of the immersive experience. At its core, AR does not strive to simulate an indistinguishable reality as cinema might, but rather, it highlights the blend of the unreal and the real, making the viewer constantly aware of the mediation at play. This awareness is critical, as AR thrives on the juxtaposition between live mediation and virtual augmentation, emphasizing the boundary between these two distinct realms.
In contrast to cinema, where effects aim to seamlessly integrate digital creations into real-world scenes, AR intentionally maintains a distinction between these elements. It doesn't seek to fool the viewer into believing in an objective reality but invites them to engage with a clearly mediated universe. This shift marks a fundamental change in how viewers interact with media: they are no longer merely observers of mediation but are actively engaging with the interface and the machine. In this way, AR represents not just a continuation of traditional media art but a significant evolution, focusing on the materiality of electric mediation itself.
Conclusion
In summary, the journey from traditional video art to the sophisticated realms of Augmented Reality represents not just technological progression but a profound shift in how we perceive and interact with media. Starting in the 1970s, early video artists pioneered techniques that challenged and expanded the boundaries of visual and auditory experiences, setting the stage for today's immersive digital environments. These historical experiments in video art laid the groundwork for the conceptual and technical frameworks we see in AR today, where the fusion of real and virtual creates a new layer of reality.
As we look forward, it is clear that AR and similar technologies will continue to blur the lines between the digital and the physical, fundamentally altering our interactions with the world around us. By understanding the roots of these technologies in the explorations of past decades, we can better appreciate their potential and responsibly shape their future impact on society. This evolution from video to AR not only enhances our sensory experiences but also challenges us to reconsider the nature of reality itself, pushing us to question what is real in an increasingly virtual world.
This concept can be paralleled with the shift to networked digital imagery, starting with live video and expanding into Augmented Reality (AR). AR represents a pioneering form of screen media in the network age, characterized by the real-time manipulation of live media. This evolution is not just about transmitting movies or recording digital media, but about harnessing live manipulation as the core of the medium. With this perspective, we can reevaluate the historical transition from traditional film imagery to networked digital imagery, understanding it as a material shift in how media is experienced and interacted with.
Tracing the Evolution of Video Art: From 1970s Experimental Media to Augmented Reality
The exploration of video art in the 1970s can be likened to what might now be considered 'proto-Augmented Reality' (proto-AR). Drawing parallels to the proto-cinema concepts discussed by Stephen Heath, video art is fundamentally about its apparatus, which defines and locates the genre within its context. For instance, Bill Viola’s work "Ocean Without a Shore" (2007), as described on the James Cohen Gallery’s website, involves a "Color High-Definition video triptych, two 65″ plasma screens, one 103″ screen mounted vertically, six loudspeakers (three pairs stereo sound)." Similarly, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) catalogs Peter Campus' 1975 video artwork "Dor" as a "closed-circuit color video installation," but to truly understand the piece, it is noted that "A discreet video camera is placed near the entrance, filming visitors entering and exiting the space; their live image is projected onto an adjacent wall." These are not merely video works characterized by light, subjects, scenes, or even images; they are complex assemblies of wires, capture devices, and rendering screens.
Video is traditionally recognized as a medium that uses magnetic tape to synchronize sound and visuals. This technology also differentiates the types of cameras used: film cameras capture images through a photochemical process, whereas video cameras convert light and sound into electrical signals using electronic components like tubes or, more commonly now, silicon chips. Filmmakers have embraced these technologies, employing video editing and laser disc transfers in post-production to improve the speed and precision of editing footage. In contrast to film, which records each frame as a continuous analog image of the scene, digital media represent visual and audio information as binary data—sequences of ones and zeros. This digital format does not allow for visual interpretation like film.
The shift to digital storage represents a move away from traditional film to a broader category of media based on computer technology. Unlike film, video media are not solely reliant on the camera. They move past the traditional frame-by-frame imagery of photography and film and go beyond the standardized television formats. This evolution permits extensive electronic manipulation, allowing changes to the scale, shape, direction, and size of images beyond typical broadcasting standards like NTSC and PAL. In the 1970s, early video art required live performance to explore these capabilities, using techniques like video signal circulation, temporal delays, and recursive loops (delayed feedback). These experiments demonstrated video's unique ability to capture and actively manipulate reality in real-time.
As video technology evolved, more sophisticated live-feedback systems were developed. However, it wasn't until the advent of processors with memory and programming capabilities that the similarities and differences between simple plug-in devices and programmable devices, and between video and computers, became clear. Initially, video and computer interactions in the 1970s involved analogue computers, as digital computers suitable for processing electronic lines only emerged around 1980.
Dan Sandin, a video pioneer, was instrumental in bridging the gap between analogue and digital technologies. In 1972, he developed the Analog Image Processor, which allowed for the modulation of video signals in various ways and the combination of multiple operations. This early experimentation showed that video could incorporate functions typically associated with analogue computers, allowing artists to manipulate the visual information of the image field beyond the standard frame format of television. This set video apart from television aesthetically and laid the groundwork for later digital computer graphics through abstraction and a departure from strictly photographic functions.
Sandin played a key role in the transition from analogue to digital by explaining how video signals encode information. At the end of each scan line, and particularly at the end of the bottom line, the signal resets to the starting position. This adjustment requires horizontal synchronization pulses at the end of each line and vertical synchronization pulses at the end of the bottom line, all generated by the camera. The actual video information is encoded in the scanning lines that run from left to right.
While early video effects were live-processed and unpredictable, pioneers developed devices to better control signal manipulation and modulation. In contrast, digital effects are generated through numeric operations and are more structured and systematic, controlled by both the program and the programmer. Although digital processes can sometimes produce uncontrollable, chaotic outcomes, they are inherently different from video because they are non-linear and not bound by time. In the digital realm, modifications can occur from any direction and in multiple dimensions, and operations can be reversed, such as in morphing techniques. Overall, the aesthetic differences between line-processing effects in video and those achieved through mathematical programming in digital formats are significant.
Media Art, as noted by media philosopher Lars Qvortrup, can often be described as a collection of ready-mades—a computer, a projector, a screen, a camera—all components standing alone yet interconnected. Augmented Reality (AR) art takes this concept further, transforming these ready-mades into a complex art of apparatus. In AR, these technical objects are not merely static; they interact, broadcasting and looping signals in real time, creating an ongoing circuit of communication.
Unlike traditional cinema, which manipulates reality through scripting, set design, and direction, AR provides a direct live stream from the camera, augmenting the 'reality' it captures. Instead of a passive screen within a theater, AR uses monitors or AR glasses, creating an invisible, immersive screen that envelops the viewer, effectively making the viewer's environment the theater itself. Replacing cinematic montage, AR employs a "scene generator" to craft virtual augmentations not present in the initial video capture. Moreover, instead of a traditional projector, a "combiner" in AR merges these augmentations with the live video stream, crafting a blended reality.
In AR, viewers are aware they are observing a mediated image—not reality itself—but might not be conscious of the underlying computational processes refining the video. Issues like jitter or rendering problems disrupt the illusion, pulling viewers out of the immersive experience. At its core, AR does not strive to simulate an indistinguishable reality as cinema might, but rather, it highlights the blend of the unreal and the real, making the viewer constantly aware of the mediation at play. This awareness is critical, as AR thrives on the juxtaposition between live mediation and virtual augmentation, emphasizing the boundary between these two distinct realms.
In contrast to cinema, where effects aim to seamlessly integrate digital creations into real-world scenes, AR intentionally maintains a distinction between these elements. It doesn't seek to fool the viewer into believing in an objective reality but invites them to engage with a clearly mediated universe. This shift marks a fundamental change in how viewers interact with media: they are no longer merely observers of mediation but are actively engaging with the interface and the machine. In this way, AR represents not just a continuation of traditional media art but a significant evolution, focusing on the materiality of electric mediation itself.
Conclusion
In summary, the journey from traditional video art to the sophisticated realms of Augmented Reality represents not just technological progression but a profound shift in how we perceive and interact with media. Starting in the 1970s, early video artists pioneered techniques that challenged and expanded the boundaries of visual and auditory experiences, setting the stage for today's immersive digital environments. These historical experiments in video art laid the groundwork for the conceptual and technical frameworks we see in AR today, where the fusion of real and virtual creates a new layer of reality.
As we look forward, it is clear that AR and similar technologies will continue to blur the lines between the digital and the physical, fundamentally altering our interactions with the world around us. By understanding the roots of these technologies in the explorations of past decades, we can better appreciate their potential and responsibly shape their future impact on society. This evolution from video to AR not only enhances our sensory experiences but also challenges us to reconsider the nature of reality itself, pushing us to question what is real in an increasingly virtual world.
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