Videology: A journey into the archive of obsolete video through media archaeology

This research project stems from my interest in obsolete consumer video cameras and explores what new, empirical, and theoretical, knowledge can be created with these outdated media devices through the practical application of media archaeological approaches. Much like traditional archaeology digs through ancient ruins, media archaeology rummages through the audio-visual artifacts that make up the material archive of culture (Huhtamo and Parikka 2011, 3). However, currently, media archaeology is a series of stratified approaches with no established methodology. It is not the intention of this research project to propose a unified methodology for media archaeology but instead take existing approaches by key figures in the field and allow them to work together in the examination of an obsolete media device, specifically obsolete consumer video cameras. I propose a practical collaborative framework, consisting of several heterogenous media archaeological approaches, applied to each obsolete consumer video camera examined for this research project.

This research project forms two interweaving lines of enquiry. The first is concerned with the apparatus itself, the obsolete consumer video camera, and the historical and cultural context that surrounds each device. Along with historical context and cultural impact, user interaction, through hands-on engagement and media created, will also be explored to provide a complete analysis of each obsolete consumer video camera. The second line of inquiry of this research project takes place in the form of my practice-based short film Videology, a structuralist film that visually explores the technological conflict found within each of the three obsolete consumer video cameras. The content of Videology is self-reflexive and concerned with showing the technology used in its own creation. With no traditional narrative, the audience engages in reading the technology of the film.