80-Foot Walkway Formed with Old Strips of VHS Tape

Lithuanian-born and New York-based artist Zilvinas Kempinas is quite known for his installation pieces involving unspooled videotape and electric fans. This delicate piece, entitled Tube, is an 80-foot long walkway formed by stretched strips of old VHS magnetic tape. (Kind of makes me wonder what was on that tape to begin with). Kempinas forms a thought-provoking environment where visitors are persuaded to consider their physical space and their bodies in relation to that space. Additionally, as they walk along the path, optical illusions and visual effects prevail.

It’s interesting to acknowledge Kempinas’s choice of materials. He uses a dull, pretty much outdated VHS material to create these beautiful and poetic pieces. The artist says, “I am attracted to things that are capable of transcending their own banality and materiality to become something else, something more. I like the way that videotape is simultaneously delicate and durable, since it’s meant to last.”