[artinfo] Theory for the YouTube Generation by Andreas Treske

[Geert Lovink]

Out now:

The Inner Life of Video Spheres--Theory for the YouTube Generation

by Andreas Treske

Network Notebooks 06, Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, 2013.
ISBN/EAN 978-90-818575-3-6

Read online and download pdf or order a copy here:
http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/publication/no-06-the-inner-life-of-video-spheres-andreas-treske/

And check the beautiful book trailer on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/59438330

Video is everywhere, like a space in which we move, an ocean we can 
dive into. But video is no longer the video we once knew. To address 
this techno-social shift, Andreas Treske sketches the outlines for a 
philosophical and practical understanding of online video, offering 
up a theory for the YouTube generation.

Video is examined up close and as a societal phenomenon. The images 
of a video constantly refer to other images, to the user and to the 
world outside. There is a 'thickening of the image'. Videos also 
exist in relation to each other. On YouTube each video is accompanied 
by dozens of suggestions commercials and comments. Or consider 
TED-talks: every presentation refers to many others, all connected in 
a network and easily changing from one hype to the next.

Useful for comprehending this relational context is the philosophy of 
Peter Sloterdijk, who describes human society in terms of 'spheres'. 
Online video can be understood as similar to bubble stuck to other 
bubbles, coming together to from foam within the connected sphere of 
the human environment.

Most prominent effects so far is video as a means of protest in the 
squares of the world, where revolution is filmed an uploaded in real 
time. Video isn't a defined movie-object watched individually, but a 
movement of millions of video simultaneously, causing a cascade of 
reaction throughout the world.

Andreas Treske is an author, filmmaker and media artist. Currently he 
teaches in the Cinema and Digital Media Department at Izmir 
University of Economics, in Turkey. He was the organizer of the third 
Video Vortex conference in Ankara.

Colophon: Network Notebooks editors: Geert Lovink and Miriam Rasch. 
Copy editing: Morgan Currie. Design: Medamo, Rotterdam 
http://www.medamo.nl. Publisher: Institute of Network Cultures, 
Amsterdam. Supported by: CREATE-IT applied research at the Amsterdam 
University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Domein 
Media, Creatie en Informatie).