On Saturday I went to the Mori Art Museum with a friend and saw the Bill Viola exhibition. This was the first exhibition I went to that was entirely done in Video. I have to admit, I wasn’t impressed.

I think video is a tough medium, because when it comes down to it, I do not think there is a shared consensus on how to interpret video as a medium for art. Culturally we have had a lot of experience with video as entertainment, and I think one would be hard pressed to argue for popular media as art, and especially as advertising. But museum art is a different creature.

You have to spend time to watch the entire loop. If the loops are long, this can really be tough, because you are doing a lot of standing around. Also, it seems like an imposition to walk in or out on the people that are already there viewing. So I think that just as a medium, it is tough in a museum setting. More than that though, I just had a really hard time interpreting what the artist means to say when I don’t feel like I’m equipped with the social metaphors to understand his art. I mean, I could film some people’s hands for an hour and slow it down.

Anyway, I still really like the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills and am looking forward to their next exhibition. I am glad that I’ve seen some video art, but as of now, it isn’t one of my favorite mediums.

Of course, as I write this I’m watching “Scrubs”, which is a form of video art. The deeper message is mostly “funny” with a dash of “serious topics”, kind of like life.