Dialogue from Video: What is youtubes place in art history? Youtube is the early 21st century version of an art musuem. Its the new Louvre. I think that the most significant art of today is being posted on youtube and ill prove that at the end of this video. So, all great art is a reflection of the era in which it was created...I dont think that todays art will be done justice if it is housed in a museum building like the art of the past. There was a time when painting was the greatest visual technology in the world but it became less relevant with the inventions of photography and video. There was a big debate in contemporary art about whether painting was dead and I credit youtube for bringing painting and other forms of art back to life. The difference is performance. In todays art, the performance is more important than the final product and youtube gives artists an arena to perform and document their work to an audience that views a billion videos a day from around the world. Youtube viewers are the art curators of the 21st century. You do this when you favorite a video or rate it.......or subscribe to a channel. This is a much more democratic method than the past. So much of what we see in museums was decided by a relatively small group of individuals. Also, youtube is becoming a major patron for artists, although I think that this is happening by accident. I have seen a lot of artists become youtube partners........and that gives artists a financial alternative to the gallery system. I want to end by restating my first point. The most significant art of the 21st century is being posted on youtube right now Click on these links to see what I mean. Check out the self portrait that was done using airplanes and GPS, Or The Fiery Chain Reaction Video- The way things go The amazing channel of youtube user Philinthecircle Here is a The light ballet performed by trained sheep.... The kinetic sculptures of Theo Janssen..... The Morphing Magnets of SACHIKO KODAMA ..... The beautiful Sony Bravia Ads................ The optical illusins of Julian Beever......... The musical rollerskating performance of Michel Lauziere....... The amazing video game recreations of Guillaume Reymond using people as pixels. The stop motion masterpiece Western Spaghetti by Pez.....