Compendium of Image Errors in Analogue Video

Johannes Gfeller, Agathe Jarczyk, Joanna Phillips, Swiss Institute for Art Research

ISBN 10: 3858813818 / ISBN 13: 9783858813817

Published by Scheidegger und Spiess AG, Verlag, CH, 2013

About this Item

Preserving collections of analogue video art is no easy task. Not only must collection caretakers ensure that their magnetic tapes are appropriately catalogued and stored, they must also properly inspect the content of the analogue videotapes in order to make an informed assessment of their condition. This is the only way to prevent unintended image errors - caused by a damaged videotape or video player, or by simple operator error - from being irreversibly merged with the artist's original image content during the digitisation process and thereby permanently compromising the artwork.This publication aims to provide caretakers of our audiovisual artistic and cultural heritage with a general guide to identifying, viewing, cataloguing and assessing the condition of analogue videotapes. The symptoms and causes of 28 common image errors are described in detail, and further illustrated by video sequences on an accompanying DVD. A technical chapter explains the basic principles of video technology, while an art history chapter discusses the deliberate use of image errors as creative tools in analogue video art.Text in English and German.

Seller Inventory # LU-9783858813817

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Compendium of Image Errors in Analogue Video
• Publisher: Scheidegger und Spiess AG, Verlag, CH
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3858813818
• ISBN 13: 9783858813817
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 666 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Over the past few decades, analogue videotapes have been commonly used as an artistic medium, from single-channel video works to complicated installation pieces. However, even though videotapes are now featured in collections all over the world, many conservators, curators, and other collection caretakers are at a loss when first confronted with the complexities of viewing, cataloguing, and preserving analogue videotapes.
Compendium of Image Errors in Analogue Video sets out to provide guidelines for the condition assessment and preservation of analogue video. Along with an included DVD, the book illustrates in stills and moving images the twenty-eight most common image errors found on videotapes. But the authors have provided more than just an outline of the problems facing video conservators. They also give background information on the historical and technical aspects of analogue video recording, including a chapter on how artists have purposefully experimented with image distortion and manipulation in their own work. An additional glossary fully explains the technical terms used in the book.  

About the Authors

Johannes Gfeller is head of the Masters Program for the Conservation of New Media and Digital Information at Stuttgart State Academy for Art and Design.  

Agathe Jarczyk is a freelance video conservator and lecturer at the University of the Arts in Bern, Switzerland. 

Joanna Phillips is associate conservator of contemporary art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.