Video nasty

[mother]

Are pop videos capable of having any real artistic substance or are they merely sales tools?

[andy hughes]

Pop videos are always capabale of artistic substance, because they can always be viewed as art. They are also sales tools - the crux of the matter is that pop vidoes are not necessarily one or the other because their status cannot be mutually exclusive. If someone wants to say something is 'art', then art it becomes - as Tracy Emin has found with her 'bed' exhibit. The validity of the concept as art, or a means to make money is not an issue, unmade beds and videos are both - the only question is how much of one view you wish to take. Given a choice between say, Bowie's 'Ashes To Ashes' video, or half a sheep, I know where my sense of art versus sales tools lies!

[sgs]

There's an article on pop vids at article 1486