As someone who has and continues to struggle finding who I am as an artist and what I want to make, somehow this just clicked so perfectly for me. It looks so scary to begin with but there’s so many videos online on how to learn it. I feel like you can take this and run in so many diff directions with it.
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Hello! I am an artist and I work with a lot of video. Video art was the first thing I really made and it made me totally fall in love with contemporary art. These are my tips:
- Keep your ideas safe. Keep them written down in a sketchbook, notebook, notes app so you don't forget them. Log them every time you have them. Add as many notes as you can (visual ideas, story boards, colours, references etc). Go back and read them regularly until you feel you have the right circumstances to make them. Maybe it needs some planning to make happen or maybe you can do it there and then
- Watch video art made by artists. At first I found it really weird and inaccessible but then it just sort of clicked. Now I look back on the first ones I saw with great admiration and they became important influences. I recommend diving into the work of: Pipilotti Rist, Hito Steyerl, Signe Pierce, Kara Walker, Molly Soda, Nam June Paik, Bill Viola, Ryan Trecartin & Julianknxx as a good place to start. Watching in a gallery is great because the intended viewing experience is usually central to the work but you will also gain a lot from just finding the films online. You should be able to find them mostly on Vimeo but also YouTube and the artists' own websites.
- Be self sufficient but also make stuff with your friends! You can do literally everything you need to do with a phone and a video editing app (I like You cut and Videoshop). Equipment limitations can be a really good thing and will force you to think outside the box. However, work with your friends! My friends were in all my first videos and now I'm ten years in and they're still happy to be involved, whether that's holding a camera or acting in a scene. It's really fun to work collaboratively together if you're into the same kind of things and you will remember the experience for a long time.
- Free software: I have a Mac so I used iMovie for a long time but before that when I was a kid I spent all my time on Windows Movie Maker and taught myself so much. Audacity is a good free sound editing software. You can find every sound you'll ever need on royalty free sound websites. YouTube has a tutorial for everything but if it doesn't just bodge it til you get something!
- think about where you want people to view it before and during your making process. Things to consider: what device (projector, TV, other), how is it mounted, are there headphones or speakers? This will help shape your ideas
- don't be afraid to share it but also don't care about the reception! Vimeo is a good place to keep your art films. If you don't get any likes on social media don't let it stop you from creating. Art films and social media are often not a recipe for success, maybe it just needs to be in a gallery to make sense.
- this is a lot of advice but don't let it overwhelm you, the most important thing is to just follow your instincts and create as often as you feel like you want to and enjoy every part of learning your craft!
Mar 23, 2025
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i'm trying to make myself smarter and my paintings better, so i've been staying up late–until i can feel myself falling asleep on the couch–and watching videos of other, way more successful artists talking to public access tv people about their work. growing up my dad always did the same thing, except instead of consuming media about culture or philosophy, he would watch like, ghost adventures, or shows about building cars.
linked is my favorite clip that i've watched recently; an artist with no pretentions and who uses their work to invest in and be a creative catalyst for their local community is something that i strive to be. also, did anybody else here get a BFA and just absolutely love getting assigned to watch one of these videos???
Mar 27, 2024
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just had an epiphany about how everyone seeks something different from art, how we all perceive it based on who we are as individuals … for the longest time in art/film school i’ve been scared to pursue the art i want out of fear that it will turn out very bad.
but i hope we make art anyway despite that fear, as long as it sustains ourselves and the people who matter. i hope we all get to freely make “bad” art 🫂
Mar 12, 2025
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tears in my eyes. jumping for joy. life is good.
Apr 2, 2025
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Why is this such a lost art? Bring together those friends that would never have met other wise. Make the people you love, love each other.
I recently had a small birthday wine n dine with my friends and anticipated awkwardness between my different groups of friends, but it was the complete opposite. God I love my friends and love making a space for them to mingle and laugh in eeeee. I think in a time where my friends and I are transitioning to adulthood and focusing on careers, this brings something to look forward to and a way to create a world outside of work and study.
Jan 17, 2025
