Since the advent of video art, scholars have continually debated the boundaries of this nebulous medium. The goal of these debates is not to reach an essentialist conclusion, which is impossible, but rather to reiterate the primacy of the individual in the language and practice of video art. The relationship between image and reality, the distance between image and truth, and the construction of meaning and value—for many artists, these questions of ontology are strongly related to the language of video art.

Every two months, UCCA and Video Bureau host a lecture on video art and related topics. For this talk, UCCA invites artists Chen Xiaoyun and Jiang Zhi and art critic Bao Dong to discuss the inconstancy of the image in video art.

Chen Xiaoyun was born in Hubei province in 1971. He primarily works in video and photography, and he is the one of the most important experimental artists working today.

Jiang Zhi was born in 1971 in Hunan province. Today he lives and works in Beijing. His works involve video, painting, photography, installation, writing, and other media.

Bao Dong is a critic and curator. His research interests include the theory of art history, critical writing, and curatorship.

Video Bureau is a non-profit organization that aims to provide a platform to exhibit, organize, and archive video art. Video Bureau’s mission is to build a video art archive for research and screenings.