Media art – what is that exactly? Was the history of media art ushered in with the artistic use of television sets and computers during the 1960s, or by performance artists in the early 1970s who turned video cameras on themselves? Is media art about the introduction of a new aesthetic by artists who researched the medium itself, and used the possibilities offered by technology to create a new visual language? Or is it about the use of the video camera as a tool for readymade cinema?

Media art includes all of these aspects. The history of media art consists of multiple histories, exciting stories that have been written about and retold by artists, theorists and a curious public. These various histories are always in flux, open to reflection and reinterpretation and are always being discussed. At the very least the history of media art embraces the histories of performance art, theatre, activism and medium specificity – four major themes that recur frequently and in many guises. Since their inception, new media have been used, analysed, become the subject, or criticised in a surprising range of artworks. The LIMA Collection includes of all of these histories, with installations, videos, performances and born-digital artworks dating from the 1970s to the present day. With works by Marina Abramovic, Jan Fabre, Nicolas Provost and Douwe Dijkstra, this media art collection is full of stories about people, techniques, trends, and the past and present – some histories have already been told but there are still plenty to discover.

Four guest curators bring these stories to life with their presentation of the LIMA Collection. Connoisseurs and enthusiasts in the field of media art they have used their expertise to interpret LIMA’s media art collection. They each present a new story, and use old and new works to recount just one of the possible histories of media art. 

Every edition can also be watched online, accompanied by a text from the curator. Watch THE LIMA COLLECTION 2015 here: