Paradoxes in the historiography and critical discourse on video art in Brazil

Abstract

This article proposes a critical reflection on the historiography of video art in Brazil, interrogating the categorical divisions established on the basis of the material and technological supports employed in the production of the works. Through a bibliographic review and critical analysis, the study seeks to problematize the crystallized discourses that frame video art as an autonomous language, thereby disregarding the multiplicity of other moving image practices likewise adopted by visual artists. The text highlights certain paradoxes within art criticism and historiography, which simultaneously attempt to affirm the autonomy and dematerialization of these works, while also classifying and rigidly separating them according to the medium used for their production and/or exhibition. Thus, the article advocates for an expanded historiography of Brazilian art, moving beyond the centrality of medium in favor of a broader approach to these practices within contemporary Brazilian art.