Art criticism and the newness of video art: the reception of video art in the Swedish daily press, 1985–1991

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to present and examine how art criticism in the Swedish daily press has dealt with video art as a new art form. The article argues that art criticism is challenged by having to deal with video art as a new art form. By paying attention to how the “identity crisis” of video art is represented in art criticism covering the four exhibitions Video/Art/Video, U-media, Japan nu/Sverige nu and Interface, as well as how the inherent properties of the printed press are used in this negotiation, this article shows that the art criticism contains a range of journalistic genres, makes use of art-historical and technological references and investigates the inherent properties of video art. The article further shows that the art criticism is primarily concerned with formal aspects of video art and that the medium specificity of the printed press is particularly salient. By comparing the specific Swedish situation with the international reception of video art as a new art form, I show that, in spite of the difference in date, they are indeed similar. Finally, by relating the reception of video art as a new art form to that of photography during the mid 19th century and digital art at beginning of the 21st century, I further show that the identity crisis of video art is similar to earlier as well as later identity crises of new technological art forms.