I Have a Friend Who Knows Someone Who Bought a Video, Once. On Collecting Video Art

The act of collecting artists films and videos poses undoubtedly interesting questions and it implies delving into a complex terrain that is at once unregulated and vital. Having its starting point in the most pressing debates surrounding the moving image, this book results from team working and years’ worth investigation to promote video art and its production, while opening up the way to LOOP Barcelona’s 15th edition.

In a market that constantly demands for materiality, video and film are perceived as ephemeral and often regarded with suspicion by some private collectors and galleries. While escaping the traditional definition of “unique objects” and qualifying as “misfit creations”, they get dismissed by the market as something that cannot be monetized. In drawing a historical trajectory that encompasses the introduction of the moving image into public museums first, and private collections later, this publication simultaneously deals with issues related to the acquisition, production, distribution, display and conservation of time-based art