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LUX Mres Art: Moving Image Public Lecture. Original Copies: The Limited Edition in Film and Video

17 September, 2013
– 17 September, 2013
7pm
LUX
3rd Floor 18 Shacklewell Lane, London E8 2EZ

 

Original Copies: The Limited Edition in Film and Video. A lecture by Erika BalsomThe sale of artists’ film and video as limited editions on the art market is an increasingly dominant form of distribution, displacing both the rental model of the co-ops and the sale of uneditioned works. The widespread espousal of editioning represents a reining in of the inherent reproducibility of the moving image and its wholesale recuperation into the symbolic economy it once compromised, that of the unique work of art. The rise of this model has provoked considerable controversy. For some, its artificial scarcity goes against the inherent qualities of the medium and betrays promises of access and democratization; for others, it represents the only way film and video will be taken seriously by museums and the most viable economic model to support the livelihood of artists.
Influenced by the practices of late-nineteenth century printmaking, the idea of selling artists’ films as limited editions arises in the early 1930s but remains unrealized at that time. Throughout most of the twentieth century, attempts to edition film and video consistently failed to achieve market viability. This changes in the 1990s, when a number of factors align to make such a model of distribution not only possible, but more and more preferred. Tonight’s talk will unfold this history, proposing an account of the reasons behind the increasing adoption of the limited edition over the past twenty years, and will explore what implications this development has for the production, distribution, and acquisition of film and video today.
Erika Balsom is currently Lecturer in Film Studies at King’s College London. Her book on recent film and video installation, Exhibiting Cinema in Contemporary Art, was recently published by  Amsterdam University Press
MRes Art: Moving Image
Over the past two decades, artists moving image has proven itself a dynamic and thriving area of art practice, to be encountered in the gallery, museum, cinema auditorium, and a host of other unexpected venues. But what about the rich and fascinating histories, theories and aesthetics that have led to artists turn to film and video? And what insights can a study of artists moving image offer us for understanding the diverse practices that now fill art spaces internationally as well as in the UK? A unique collaboration between LUX and Central St Martins College of Art has created a research led masters degree to address these questions lead by Dr Lucy Reynolds. The Mres Art: Moving Image programme is now open for applications for 2013/14 For more information see CSM website or contact Lucy Reynolds directly at lucy[at]lux.org.uk

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