Video Art?

Some people consider art to be something that has a reason for being made, and a considerable amount has gone in to making it. I'm not sure whether I believe that, but one thing that concerns me is video art. With the accessibility to shooting equipment nowadays (DSLR's etc.) can we really call that kind of amateur style camera work art?

Looking at a couple of pieces I consider to be art, you can see how it is possible to create a deeper meaning through video specifically:

The first piece that caught my eye was called Mercuriús on a collection DVD of video artworks. It was essentially a collection of film footage and amateur footage that all incorporated the light of a torch as the subject.

The gaze of the torch is very curious, and inquisitive if personified. However, the cuts between each shot especially at the beginning makes it sinister, with a horror film tone that reminds me of something akin to The Blair Witch Project or the youtube channel Marble Hornets, which you can view here. Similarly the music crackles and holds that amateur, fragmented sense that the film carries, in turn making it more sinister and bewildering.

For me I think this short film was trying to demonstrate something of a similarity in the way films are shot using strands of light and, because of this, the effect it has on us as an audience. Personally I felt a bit on edge throughout it, thinking something was going to happen or jump scare me, which really goes to show what this film was giving to us.

Another film in the same collection called Falsche Freunde deals with a lot of slow motion clips with no narrative and it cuts in a very fragmented way in the sense that it often cuts to black before the next shot. This to me makes it feel quite dream like and fictional. However, this film again has a sinister element without any immediate reason as to why, the conjunction of images and the overlays in the film makes it feel sinister when put in conjunction with the soundtrack which sounds very unnatural. It also reminds me of a video related to the Marble Hornets youtube channel called TotheArk, which can be viewed here.

The clips used mainly show a boy hiding and a shot from far away of two men going into some sort of institution. The nurse figure opens a door to let them in, entirely in slow motion whilst the boy acts to be hiding from them. I feel as if this is mainly why the film appears to be so sinister. There is a sense of distrust of institutions and authority about it.

Both these films I feel I could call artworks as there is a meaning behind them, and their techniques are completely justified and are actually delivered very successfully.