YouTube Play: Corralling Wild Cattle

YouTube Play.

Since 2005 YouTube has given us a prime venue for quick and dirty moving images. And now the powers that be in the art world are trying to grade that production.

The result is the first YouTube-Guggenehim joint exhibition, YouTube Play, an effort to pick the best of the 2 billion videos being screened daily on YouTube.

More from YouTube Play.

The selection criteria? Coming from the visual arts, these folks know how to be clear about what they're looking for:

1) video ranging from amateur through professional was all welcome (except commercial video which was not eligible);

2) creative video was the prime focus, in any moving image medium;

3) innovation was valued most highly - they wanted works that were original and surprising;

4) they were looking for interesting stories or groundbreaking visuals;

5) they wanted works that debated, discussed, tested, experimented with, and elevated video in all kinds of ways. 

"We want to see something different. We are not looking for what's now, we are looking for what's next."

The problem, of course, is that the minute they've made their selection, it's already so "now".

Next blog, we'll look at some of the animation that made it to the top of the pile.

YouTube Play, the Biennial of Creative Video, will run every two years. Be sure to submit something for next time. http://www.youtube.com/play [1]