The Huber Experiments
In the latest high art/pop culture mash-up, the Guggenheim and YouTube have joined forces to create an exhibit that celebrates and examines online video. This weekend, the museum announced the twenty winning videos for the installation “YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video.” The videos were culled from more than 23,000 submissions from 91 countries. Last month, the eclectic jury, including Takashi Murakami and the music group Animal Collective, selected 125 finalists, which are still available for viewing on the playbiennial channel.
Since the announcement of the collaboration in July, many people have balked at the idea of YouTube videos being placed in the same realm as Kandinsky and Louise Bourgeouis. In an informational video about the exhibit, Guggenheim chief curator Nancy Spector says, “We are always interested in how to reach the broadest possible audience. We don’t create a hierarchy here among mediums. We don’t have departments dedicated to drawing or painting or sculpture. It’s a museum of contemporary and modern art, but I always like to think that it’s always been a museum of the new.”
Now that the winners have been unveiled, it’s clear that there is some real talent among the work submitted. These aren’t videos of piano-playing cats or teenage boys pranking their friends. For the New York City News Service, I wrote of “The Huber Experiments: Volume One,” which I think is one of the best videos submitted. Not only is it superbly done technically, but it’s very beautiful. Read my review and watch the video here.