Exhibition strategies of video works at Istanbul Biennials

The introduction of electronic image recording tools in the 1950s provided a unique structure that could affect the production processes of artists. At the beginning, video art was used by artists to criticize television and later on, artists developed new strategies using the possibilities of video from different disciplines and perspectives. Since 1960, artists have started to use video as a means of expression and video has spread rapidly. In Turkey, the spread of video art coincided with the 1990s, and the interest of artists in video art increased in the 2000s. The elements to be considered in the exhibition of video art differed from the exhibition of traditional artworks due to nature of the video. In this respect, in addition to formal concerns, hardware and technical possibilities were decisive, especially until the introduction of the first digital cameras in the mid-1990s. The use of display devices in displaying video art depends on the conceptual and formal relationship with the tool used in the demonstration. The unique space and image relations of the video have transformed the normative viewing conditions in the modernist white cube gallery space. Consequently, art institutions have started to create special spaces, which will be known as the black cube in the future. In this context, within the scope of the study, starting from the origins of video art and after the use of video as an artistic expression have been revealed in order to provide a basis for the interpretation of the approaches used in displaying video art in the editions held until the 17th Istanbul Biennial; the development of video art in the historical process in the world and in Turkey will be examined and the determining factors in the exhibition of video art are discussed. In the last part of the study, video works in the biennials will be detected and the approaches used in the exhibition were presented.