YouTube Play

21 October 2010

YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video. Announces Top 25 Videos.

25 Videos Chosen from 23,358 Worldwide Submissions from 91 Countries

Videos on View at the Guggenheim Museum in New York October 22–24 and at YouTube.com/play

(NEW YORK, NY – October 21, 2010, 7:00 p.m. EDT)—The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and YouTube, in collaboration with HP and Intel, tonight announced the top 25 videos, selected from 23,358 online video submissions and 91 countries , for YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video. The announcement was made at a special celebratory event at the Guggenheim Museum this evening, "YouTube Play. Live from the Guggenheim," with a corresponding global live stream at youtube.com/play.

On behalf of the jury, Nancy Spector, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and Jury Chairperson, said, "It was our goal to reach the widest possible audience, inviting individuals from around the world to submit a video for consideration. While our original goal had been to select 20, the jury was so moved by the quality of work submitted that we decided to honor a final list of 25. We believe the end result is 25 of the most unique and innovative video work to be created and distributed online during the past two years."

Selected by a distinguished, multidisciplinary jury, the 25 videos were created by 39 video artists from 14 countries: Australia (1), Brazil (1), Canada (2), Chile (1), Czech Republic (1), Denmark (1), England (2), France (1), Japan (1), The Netherlands (1), Northern Ireland (1), South Africa (2), South Korea (1), USA (9). In making their selection, the jury was looking for a broad range of genres specific to online video, including, but not limited to, non-narrative, experimental works; mashups; animations; stop-motion graphics; remakes; music videos; and narrative short films. Since September 20, a shortlist of 125 videos was available to view on the YouTube Play channel at youtube.com/play and at kiosks in the Guggenheim museums in New York City, Berlin, Bilbao, and Venice. The 25 jury selected videos will be on view to the public at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from October 22 through 24 in the Tower 2 Gallery, with profiles of their creators in an adjoining HP + Intel Digital Gallery. The videos will also be available for viewing to a worldwide audience on the YouTube Play channel at youtube.com/play.

The YouTube Play jury included: performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson; music group Animal Collective, featuring Deakin (Josh Dibb), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Panda Bear (Noah Lennox); filmmaker Darren Aronofsky; visual artists Douglas Gordon, Ryan McGinley, Marilyn Minter, and Takashi Murakami; artists and filmmakers Shirin Neshat and Apichatpong Weerasethakul; and graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, with Guggenheim Chief Curator and Deputy Director Nancy Spector serving as jury chairperson.
Regarding the Guggenheim‘s role in YouTube Play, Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, said, "The Guggenheim's ongoing commitment to new media compelled the museum to establish YouTube Play, the first biennial of online video to be organized by a major museum of contemporary art." Mr. Armstrong continued, "In the last two decades, the moving image has been fully absorbed into critical contemporary-art practices. The Guggenheim, together with YouTube, and HP and Intel, harnessed their collective expertise to create YouTube Play to celebrate this art form and the Internet's power to catalyze and disseminate new forms of digital media."

"YouTube Play was conceived as an effort to surface the video gems that lie at the intersection of creativity and technology," said Ed Sanders, Senior Marketing Manager at YouTube. "These 25 videos do just that. And, moreover, they were selected from submissions from over 90 different countries. They represent the breadth of genres and techniques specific to online video today, and tip their hat to YouTube's global reach and diversity."

"HP and Intel are inspired by the YouTube Play artists and their ability to utilize technology to create art," said Tracey Trachta, executive director, Global Marketing, Personal Systems Group, HP. "We salute the Top 25 digital artists and hope that this program will encourage others, both professional and aspiring, to allow today's technologies to help them bring their creative vision to life."

The live-streamed event, "YouTube Play. Live from the Guggenheim," was emceed by comedian and actor/director Michael Showalter and featured performances by Grammy Award-winning rock band OK Go; the musician, producer, and video artist Kutiman; dance troupe LXD; musician and songwriter Megan Washington; and San Francisco artist best known for his audio and video mash-ups Mike Relm. Following the evening the full live stream of "Live from the Guggenheim" will be available on the YouTube Play channel youtube.com/play.

Over the course of the evening, the top 25 videos were projected onto the facade of Frank Lloyd Wright's landmark building facing Fifth Avenue as well as onto a giant screen in the museum‘s Rotunda. The exterior projections will be on display through October 22 (from sundown to 10:30 p.m.). "YouTube Play. Live at the Guggenheim" was produced by Sunset Lane Entertainment. The event was designed by Consortium Studios. The exterior projections were created by Obscura Digital.

On Oct 22, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao will host a special event in the atrium of the Frank Gehry-designed building to celebrate the Top 25 video which will feature 25 columns fitted with screens projecting the Top 25 videos, as well as a projection of the New York event.

YouTube Play

21 October 2010

YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video. Announces Top 25 Videos.

Top 25 YouTube Play Videos (alphabetical order)