Book excerpt: This volume contains the insights of prominent artists in the field as well as critical writings by scholars and critics. It illustrates the complex, heterogeneous nature of video, and highlights its strong ties to the visual arts and social theory. While providing an essential critical context for understanding video's role as art, these writings show that video is at the forefront of contemporary cultural and aesthetic discourse. Using a wide range of strategies, from the poetic to the deconstructive, these essays provide a long overdue critical context in which to evaluate video as art and its subsequent impact on social and cultural behavior.