Last night the YouTube Play event took place at The Guggenheim in New York and was streamed live on the web. Conceived by YouTube and The Guggenheim, it was billed as a biennial of creative video but it is so much more than that. Taking over and transforming one of the world’s most iconic museums, the event made no distinction between live performance and video, art and technology, culture and commerce, high and low brow, it was simply a celebration of passionate creative work. Kudos to everyone involved, in particular the production crews responsible for staging such an extraordinary event.

Here are some highlights of the evening:

Introduction.
 

The amazing video mapping building projections.

Jarbas Agnelli, creator of “Birds on the Wires,” and the Noname Ensemble from the Julliard School.


Pogo, creator of “Gardyn,” and many amazing video mashups.


Kutiman performs “Hungarian Dance #5” by Brahms, accompanied by the Noname ensemble from the Julliard School, YouTube Symphony Orcherstra players and video performances from around the world. 


The LXD translates the video work “Seaweed” into dance.


Everynone uses video to honor the power of words.

OK Go, kings of the YouTube music video, closed the evening with a delightfully subtle acoustic performance.


I find myself profoundly inspired by this event and hope you find yourself inspired too, wanting to share your work with the world.