59 Seconds Video Festival

59 Seconds Video Festival & AI59
Videoscreening, Talk

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 59 Seconds Video Festival, Project 59 is organizing 20 international screenings featuring a selection from the final collection of the best 59 videos plus new AI-generated works. Each video is 59 seconds long. The best 59 videos were selected in 2005-2008 by 59 audiences from 59 worldwide screenings.

Launched in 2005 by Project 59 (Irina Danilova & Hiram Levy) at 59 Franklin Street in Tribeca, NYC, the 59 Seconds Video Festival was a play off as well as a metaphor for the short video format. While sampling an emerging digital video art scene, it facilitated an exchange of ideas and information, presenting a wide range of video works, including mini documentaries, political satire, narratives, experimental, edgy, controversial, and a unique collection of videos that integrated the number 59. “Maximum entertainment in minimum time” – San Francisco Bay Guardian, 12/7/05.

The first video editing software was released in the mid-to-late 1990s (Final Cut Pro for Mac in 1999), and by 2005 there was a significant number of artists experimenting with the moving image. The current experiments with new AI technologies make the 20th anniversary of the 59 Seconds Video Festival a good opportunity to compare and bridge the gap between pioneering new technologies used by artists in 2005 and 2025.