Research and Reflective Thinking
Several research projects have been dedicated to the documentation and study of VJing from the reflective and theoretical point of view. In the Netherlands Media Art Institute, Montevideo / Time Based Arts, Annet Dekker organized a research on the subject called VJ Cultuur – a state of flux. Dekker wrote widely on the history of VJing and its contextualization within the club culture. In the same year, 2005, VJ Theory began publishing texts written by practitioners and academics, and organizing collective discussions online and offline around subjects related to VJing and audiovisual performative practices. Between 2005 and 2006 several books were published with interviews, showcasing works and related artists, providing an overview of the current practice.
Round tables, talks, presentations and discussions are part of festivals and conferences related to new media art, such as ISEA and Ars Electronica for example, as well as specifically related to VJing, as is the case of the Mapping Festival. Exchange of ideas through dialogue contributed to the shift of the discussion from issues related to the practicalities of production to more complex ideas and to the process and the concept. Subjects related to VJing are, but not exclusively: identity and persona (individual and collective), the moment as art, audience participation, authorship, networks, collaboration and narrative. Through collaborative projects, visual live performance shift to a field of interdisciplinary practices.
Periodical publications, online and printed, launched special issues on VJing. This is the case of AMinima printed magazine, with a special issue on Live Cinema (which features works by VJs), and Vague Terrain (an online new media journal), with the issue The Rise of the VJ.
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