Record and Experiment DV Video History

Author: Cao Kai
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not Available
Features: The third wave of imaging technology revolution, labeled as digital video (DV) technology, intruded into China in a sudden manner in the late 1990s, igniting an unprecedented DV revolution movement. This movement profoundly transformed the humanistic ecological environment of imaging art in China. In the fields of documentary and experimental cinema, its impact was particularly significant. After just a few years of evolution, as the DV revolution movement was about to recede, it became urgent to clear up its humanistic and technological historical threads and interpret some new concepts emerging at the new coordinates. Against this backdrop, this book traces the historical origins of the two major imaging genres—documentary and experimental—vertically, delves into the historical development trajectory of small-scale recording equipment, and explores the technical historical roots of DV. Meanwhile, within the framework of the domestic DV revolution movement, it conducts a horizontal bird's-eye view across the intersection of the documentary and experimental fields, extending the perspective to the global trend of film digitalization. Finally, it anticipates the possibility of DV being institutionalized, commercialized, and popularized. This book is a composite work integrating the history of digital technology and the history of imaging art, offering a fresh perspective to examine and interpret the revolutionary significance of DV for imaging art.
"Record" and "experiment" represent the two extremes of the signifier in imaging. "Record" is a simple form of imaging expression, requiring only the camera lens to faithfully capture the reality of space. "Experiment" is a complex form of imaging expression, largely exploring the various modes that can be expressed through the language of images. The recording and experimentation of images are two imaging histories parallel to traditional film history, each forming its own system, yet intersecting and intertwining at certain historical coordinates. In the digital imaging era of the 21st century, these two histories converged unexpectedly at the coordinate point of DV. The emergence of DV freed these two forms of imaging from the constraints of equipment technology, leading to unprecedented prosperity and development. Thus, these two parallel imaging histories—imaging record and imaging experiment—have simultaneously unfolded their historical threads before us.