Week 10 : The difference between video arts and commercials

Definition of  Video Art

    Video art is an art form which relies on moving pictures in a visual and audio medium. Video art came into existence during the late 1960s and early 1970s as new consumer video technology which became available outside corporate broadcasting.

    Video art can take many forms: recordings that are broadcasted on television, installations viewed in galleries or museums, works streamed online, which can be distributed as video tapes, or DVDs, and performances which may incorporate one or more television sets, video monitors, and projections, displaying ‘live’ or recorded images and sounds.


Some Examples of Media Art are :-

1) Nam June Paik's Electronic Superhighway back in 1995

2) A still from Jonas' 1972 video

Definition of Commercials

    Commercials are a visual form of marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, nonpersonal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of advertising are often businesses who wish to promote their products or services. Advertising is differentiated from public relations in that an advertiser usually pays for and has control over the message. It is differentiated from personal selling in that the message is non personal, which is not directed to a particular individual.

    Advertising is communicated through various mass media, including old media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor advertising or direct mail. It can also be communicated new media such as search results, blogs, websites or text messages. The actual presentation of the message in a medium is referred to as an advertisement or "ad".

    Commercial ads often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through "branding", which associates a product name or image with certain qualities in the minds of consumers. On the other hand, ads that intend to elicit an immediate sale are known as direct response advertising.

    Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Non-profit organizations may use free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement. Advertising may also be used to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful.


Some Examples of Commercials are :-

1) A Coca-Cola advertisement from the 1890s

2) LEL flyer from 1806 for a traditional medicine called Kinseitan.