Video as Technology of the Self

This project queries how video technology changed media practices relating to the self. The history of video on tape is a relatively short one. Developed in the late 1950s and used until the 2010s, it had its heyday from the late 1970s to the 1990s. The immediacy of the medium, the possibility of instant playback, along with its increasing prevalence due to its improved affordability fundamentally changed the social practices as regards audio-visual media technology. Already existing media practices based on the use of (substandard) film and photography were revisited, negotiated and updated. Video technology also engendered new practices that can be seen as early traces of todays digital video use linked to social media and the Internet. Therefore this project also reflects on and historicises current aspects of media use like connectivity, mobility, and the blurring or dissolution of boundaries between the private and the public sphere. The key hypothesis is that along with the development and spread of video technology, new forms of self-technologies emerged. 1) Videotape allowed for immediate feedback as well as a combination of visual and audible information, which strongly influenced methods of self-confrontation in psychotherapy, education and training. 2) Adjacent to these practices were theorisations of video as self-empowerment. Due to its affordability and the possibilities of easily copying and distributing it, video promised to empower the powerless, to democratise, to enable changes on both a global and a local level. 3) Video changed the home use of (audio)visual media. Not only was video technology affordable and available to broad sections of the public, but its increased mobility and recording time also had a major influence on the auto/biographical use of the camera. Conceptions and representations of the self in terms of public and private changed substantially. By studying literature, video sources and interviews from the fields of psychotherapy, education, training, activism and home video use, the project answers the following main research questions: In what ways did video technology enable new media practices that engendered new technologies of the self? How was video used to change, optimise or improve the self, and what were the promises associated with these uses? In what ways do these changes in media technologies of the self interact with historical changes since the 1960s concerning working conditions, means of production, gender relations and family structures?

The project "Video as Technology of the Self" explored how the medium of video (on magnetic tape) was used to work on the self-that is, how video technology was employed to improve, document, heal, or empower the self. To this end, the use of video in various fields was examined: in psychiatry and psychotherapy, in political activism, and in private life. Psychotherapeutic practices of self-confrontation and self-observation using video were developed in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. On the one hand, these methods were adopted internationally-for example, in 1977, the International Working Group for Audiovision in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy was founded in West Berlin. This group, composed of psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and technicians, discussed methods and technical possibilities and contributed to the dissemination of video therapy in German-speaking countries. On the other hand, these methods were increasingly applied in other areas outside of psychiatry, such as in job interview training, self-confidence training, or group dynamics processes. For political groups and movements, the introduction of smaller and more affordable cameras offered new opportunities for media-based activism. The project focused on examining groups, magazines, and videos in Western Europe and the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. Debates around video were shaped by high expectations regarding the potential of audiovisual media production-video was expected to bring about societal change and to empower marginalized groups and individuals. Video was associated with various metaphors that underscored these expectations: it was described as a weapon, an extension of the human body, a mirror, a catalyst, or a virus. In private life, video gained significant importance starting in the 1980s and especially in the 1990s. Here, the use of video could build on existing practices of self-thematization, self-reflection, or self-representation, such as diaries, letters, photography, or amateur film. Home video collections were characterized by a much larger volume of recordings compared to substandard film, as the recording material was cheaper, reusable, and erasable. The longer recording durations and synchronous sound led to new forms of self-representation, allowing for spoken commentary but also making conflicts audible. The project also examined a 122-hour home video collection from a Viennese family, which addressed, in diverse ways and through the inclusion of audiovisual productions from various sources, the experiences of family members who were persecuted during the Holocaust. This investigation of historical video practices combines contemporary historical, gender historical, media historical, and transnational perspectives, offering insights into an early history of social media.