Meigh-Andrews views his history through the lens of technological development, whilst never losing sight of the many artists' creative and subjective visions, which he covers through representative case studies of significant works. The extensive new picture research offers resonant images that evoke memories for some and discovery for new readers. This book is essential reading for all students, scholars, artists and curators who are interested in the subject. -- Professor Stephen Partridge, artist and Principal Investigator for REWIND | Artists' Video in the 1970s & 80s, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, UK
No other writer on video has Meigh-Andrews' grasp of the feeling of working with electronic media, in all their forms since the 1960s: the artist's perspective on making and showing. With new material expanding the temporal and geographic reach of the book, A History of Video Art is the essential guide to the art form that more than any other defines seeing over the last half century. -- Sean Cubitt, Professor of Film and Television, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
Covering both video art many other related media technologies and art forms of the second part of the 20th century, this book is a fantastic and unique resource. I highly recommend to anybody interested in the history, aesthetics, and social context of media art. -- Lev Manovich, Professor, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA and Director, Software Studies Lab
Meigh-Andrews' own significant contribution to video practice and his obvious familiarity with the British video art scene has resulted in an insightful guide to the development of the medium and the surrounding discourses. The book is an ideal introduction to video for the student or general reader while providing for the historian of contemporary art an effective key for opening up the complexities of the historical and technological nuances of the medium. -- Samantha Lackey, "Screen Studies", The Art Book, Vol. 14, Issue 3, August 2007, Blackwell Synergy, pp 63-64. * First Edition review *
An excellent and welcome addition to contemporary writing on video art. It has what a lot of the other books are missing: it has much more detail on the technology behind the cameras, editing systems and installations; it situates video art in relation to the other art movements; and it offers an in-depth discussion of video art's links to experimental music. If you (or your students) have access to the Video Data Bank "Surveying the First Decade," this book is a great compliment to many of the videos featured in this collection. It provides detailed accounts of many key works and is particularly strong on figures like Woody and Steina Vasulka, British video art and European video art which a lot of books ignore entirely. I would recommend this in tandem with Illuminated Video. -- Andrew Dimirjian, NYC, US * First edition review *
