Single-channel
Single-channel is a form of producing videos designed to be shown on a monitor or single screen. Despite the growing popularity of video installations and projections - with or without computer assistance - the single-channel format continues to be the one that is most widely used by artists working with electronic and digital media. Regardless of the diversity of topics and contents, the process related to viewing single-channel works is rather simple: the image on one side, the viewer on the other. Unlike video installations with several screens, which establish a spatial relationship by modifying the viewer’s behaviour, this format establishes a bipolar relationship, like that created in a theatre, cinema or on television. Another advantage, in addition to being cheaper and easier to edit, is that the tape can be displayed in an instant.
Single-channel affirms that as a medium for artistic creation, video is on the rise, despite the fact that the relationship between video and local institutions has never been easy. No national or regional centres exist that support this type of work, there is no kind of official policy to finance or promote research and experimentation and, finally, academic education in this field is practically non-existent. Using an approach that goes beyond themes, the show presents the current artistic landscape, 16 years after the video exhibition La imagen sublime: vídeo de creación en España 1970/1980, curated by Manuel Palacio at the Reina Sofia in 1987, and poses the question: what has been going on with video in Spain since then?