Video documentation of installations – Types of video documentation
In literature on documenting theatre on video, we found a distinction made between types of video:
a) documentation, b) adaptation and c) film, with an increasing level of interpretation (from a to c). These distinctions may also be used for video documentation of installation art. Based on our analysis of 200 video documents we would make a distinction between the following types of video documentation for installations:
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Installation view
An (often short) overall view of the installation and its positioning in space.
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Installation ‘registration’
A visual description of the installation, its parts and its positioning, often from a spectators point of view. The documentation of an installation on video could be considered as an account of a certain event, at a certain time, staged for an audience. To call it a registration the camera has to take the viewpoint of the audience. When using more than one camera and montage, we enter the terrain of cinema or television, which in itself is neither good nor bad. However, we should consider that an 'objective' registration of the installation could then be more difficult to achieve and new dimensions or interpretations arise.
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Installation configuration
A combination of multiple sources used to present more than one shot (i.e. different channels or source) at the same time.
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