Intermission: The Guggenheim Picks the 25 Most Creative Web Videos

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf5QQ3UADRQ

Video art has long been collected and exhibited by museums. But the concept of curating web videos—pieces made for viewing online—is not the art of choice for most museum walls. That's why the YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video is so exciting. It not only acknowledges the craft of these worthy artists and designers, but also recognizes the virality and shareability of the medium.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DVN4m41QCE

More than 32,000 submissions rolled in, from which 125 videos were plucked for the shortlist by an all-star panel of jurors including the band Animal Collective, the filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, and the graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister—although I want to know how they could have possibly watched them all!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw8ctJTF1ZY

Last night, the top 25 YouTube videos were announced, and, in an amazing spectacle that had the local art world buzzing, the 25 top videos were projected on the outside of the museum in New York last night. (It also streamed live on YouTube.) The videos will also be shown at the Guggenheim Museums in New York, Bilbao, Berlin, and Venice over the next few days, illustrating one of the most obvious benefits of collecting web video: It costs next to nothing to transport, store, and exhibit.