Young Jean Lee interviewed by Richard Maxwell

I just love artist interviews. I love being able to see into an artist’s mind.

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Speaking of Videos, On the Boards recently launched a new project called OnTheBoards.tv. It’s a paid content site where you can purchase or rent videos of contemporary performance – theater, dance, performance art, etc. For example you can purchase a right to watch the entierty of Young Jean Lee’s excellent and thought provoking “The Shipment.” (see my review here)

I’m interested to see how this will pan out.

For one, a major point of these art forms is the experience of seeing them LIVE. It’s an important aspect and a lot gets lost in a video presentation.

Second, it’s a paid site! I’m just not sure people will be willing to pay for this content. Everywhere you look things are moving towards a free model and it’s hard enough getting people to see and pay for the real LIVE thing.

Third, I hope the artists are getting some kind of royalties from this.

On the other hand, this does significantly lower the barrier of entry for people. You can sample an artist’s work more easily. And it definitely combats one of the drawbacks of the LIVE artform, mainly that it can only happen in one place at one time which limits its audience reach. Now anyone can see this work anywhere at anytime!

Well, it’s an interesting experiment, and a first of its kind as far as I know, so I’m really curious to see what’s next.