The concept of the ‘VJ’ is an interesting one within the artistic realm. It harks back to the late 90′s MTV VJ’s and seems a remnant of techno/trance warehouse party days and their flashy colors/lights and loads of pills/acid. Not necessarily the best recollection being that they both died out quickly for legal issues and lack of a real purpose other than a bunch of fucked up kids being in one place. The truth is that really it is a byproduct of these, and a generation that grew up surrounded by increasing technological ability and a need to explore it as a form for artistic output. The article on the Rise of the VJ and the documentary on the history of the VJ illustrate this point but emphasize that although it came about with these it have proven a malleable form to express and is becoming more than what the term VJ can really encompass. As rise of the Vj tells within the first couple paragraphs, the concept of VJ is not so much the emphasis any longer while really what is being stressed is live audio visual experience. This is again told through the documentary where we meet many of these kids who came out of the techno/trance days as VJs but are now moving on toward making it recognized as their art and additionally that they are more than just VJs. Visualists or Live A/V artists seems to fit more in the extensive bounds of their possibilities.
Bringing it back around to McKenzie Wark and the Hacker Manifesto, which is Oh so painful and incredibly entertaining to read over and over (love it, but it’s a lot to indulge in over and over with all the anti/pro marxist talk), the VJ brings something to the populace that the hacker is strives for. The intents of the hacker to be an individual and broadcast ideas breaking from the status quo set by the government and its educational services can easily be exhumed through the concept of the VJ. Debatable by the common viewing group being drunk party kids at bars/clubs, but the VJ is by trade very well educated in creating visually stimulating experiences, projecting to large audiences, and most importantly re-appropriating. Not to say that many VJs don’t create their own material but that they are in a unique position to create new meanings and broadcast new ideas to audiences through the incorporation of pop footage recontextualized. The VJ is by no means the ultimate hack, but is a more than able contributor to liberating thought from the mechanical teachings of the vectoral system. As it develops more commercial attention will be given and surely there will follow law suits seeking action against those who use re-appropriated footage but the nature of the creation is one which draws back on the Happenings in the 60′s and 70′s and are determined by experiences.
