what is represented. He thus produces a synchronicity of filming time, represented time, and the time of reception, which, precisely due to the refusal of dramatic possibilities, moves the perception of time and the expectant posture of the audience—the product of media conventions—to the center of attention. Much more interesting than the question of what happens in the film is here the question of what happens in the audience.

In his «empire 24/7,» Wolfgang Staehle adds additional components to the concept of synchronicity: the simultaneity of the real object and its permanently, generally available reproduction. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, a web cam shows a real-time image of the immobile, iconic building on the Internet. Media reality can thus be experienced as a real-time event. Permanently available, and without an original, the digital image of the Empire State Building links the site of ‹filming› with the site of the observer, and thus shows a reality typical of live web cam images, one which usually lies outside our realm of perception.

II The Video Medium

Reflecting on the medium of video by illuminating its possibilities leads from the very beginning towards a debate on an academic, technical and artistic level. Technical as well as artistic experiments and inventions lead to new forms of image production. Again, visual artists who usually work with other media are the first to dedicate themselves to the new technology. For instance, many sculptors and performance artists expand their means of representation with the use of video in their works and exhibitions.[22] The intermedia character or the reciprocal influence of art and media rests, however, less on technical aspects than an interest in complexes of social communication. Thus, technical execution is not central to artistic production, rather the way in which the medium is used and what can be shown with it.

Closed-circuit

The immediate accessibility of the video images and the simultaneous possibility of their manipulation by delay or spatially separate playback is a special characteristic