VJing

The term VJing is used to refer to a video performance in real time, generally associated with a live musical event (concert or mix) and sometimes with a live show (dance, theatre, etc.). VJing may be considered a direct descendant of the Liquid Light Show (visual performance based on the manipulation of oils, colours and slides, which developed in the psychedelic music scene of the 1960s), with the addition of video images and the possibilities this offers in terms of editing (or ‘visual mixing’).

VJing was first developed in the clubs of New York, during the 70s: the word VJ (Video Jockey) was then used to refer to the person who chose and projected images within the nightclub, while the DJ handled the sound. The word appeared in writing for the first time, on an official document, in 1980: on the pay slip of the artist Merrill Aldighieri, for her intervention at the legendary Hurrah Club in New York City. This is improvised visual editing, based on the live interpretation of a musical mix.

The pioneers worked with slide projectors, film (Super 8 or 16 mm), before VJing adopted the technical developments in terms of the diffusion of animated images: the VCR during the 80s — the VJ could then install several racks of VCRs which could be used, after a fashion, as video decks —, the video mixer and computer, enabling the storing of images in digital format, the implementation of mixing desks and visual synthesisers. At that time, VJing equipment became significantly lighter, which — with the simultaneous success of techno and electronic music — was key to its rise, during the 1990s and 2000s. This period sees the launch of real-time programming languages and VJing software, which will be used as basic tools for various mapping pioneers.

Many video mapping creators honed their skills in the field of VJing, and some work there still: this is the case for Joanie Lemercier and Romain Tardy (from the AntiVJ label), members of the Machine Sauvage collective, Rodrigue Pellaud and Jérémy Oury. Thanks to VJing, they were able to develop specific technical skills — with many VJs creating their own computer tools — along with a sense for installation in terms of volume and performance and an openness to interactivity. It is fascinating to note the variety of profiles that can be found on the VJing circuit (there are musicians, samplers (sensitive to group improvisation), and others, whether artists, video makers and image creators), as well as the lively debates within the scene, on the question of the meaning of the images and narrative (or lack of) in visual mixing… These debates often spill over into the field of video mapping.