Top 10 Most Iconic Video and Digital Artworks of the 21st Century

Contemporary Art Issue published a list of the ten most iconic audiovisual artworks of the 21st century, spanning video, video installation, and digital art. The selection includes Francis Alÿs's 'When Faith Moves Mountains' (2002), where hundreds of volunteers moved a sand dune in Peru; Pipilotti Rist's 'Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters)' (2008) at MoMA; Cao Fei's 'RMB City' (2007-2009), a virtual metropolis in Second Life; Christian Marclay's 'The Clock' (2010), a 24-hour video montage synchronized to real time; Bouchra Khalili's 'The Mapping Journey Project' (2008-2011), documenting migrant routes; Ragnar Kjartansson's 'The Visitors' (2012), a nine-channel video installation filmed at Rokeby Farm; Hito Steyerl's 'How Not to Be Seen' (2013), a tutorial on invisibility; Camille Henrot's 'Grosse Fatigue' (2013), a desktop meditation on the universe; Arthur Jafa's 'Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death' (2016), a montage of Black American experience; and Refik Anadol's 'Unsupervised' (2022), an AI-generated installation at MoMA. The list highlights works that use new media to address political, social, and technological themes, with many pieces held by major institutions like MoMA, Tate, and the Guggenheim.