This festival is a show case for local video artists, an experiment of community event organization, and a celebration of this ever-changing genre of contemporary art and culture. It was first conceived as a small-scale video installation featuring two to three artists, but within weeks it ballooned to become a festival, and the roster of artists is still growing as of now.
What has propelled this festival to evolve so quickly is the eclectic nature and consistently high quality of the works. By high quality, it is not implied that they are technically sophisticated, polished, or perfectly executed; rather, these works are only loosely but strongly connected with one common thread—they are all about relishing the moment.
Many of them do not follow narratives. They do not have clear messages, or even purposes. They appear to have no commercial values what-so-ever. They don’t scream to demand attention. But they are all strangely satisfying. These works were motivated by curiosity, pleasure, and gratitude, and, without much expectation in return.
These works may be too soft-spoken when seen isolated as in a gallery, or in the vast and noisy environment of youtube, but planted with other works in one space like a garden, they enhance each other and create a sensory scape that is not unlike a secret garden.
Or so I envision. This is our first attempt at this, so we will learn as we go. Any suggestions, feedback, comments are welcome.
Woodstock Video Art Festival 