Advancing digital technologies have given artists both new platforms and new creative potential for working in video. “We are living in an environment of surfaces and screens,” said Just. Video artists’ presentations are no longer confined to a single screen, and ideas about the medium itself have led artists to engage with technology, virtual reality, and architecture.

Just—who opens an exhibition at Perrotin in New York on January 14, 2020, including a new video work featuring American Ballet Theater dancers—addresses a shift in how artists are thinking about video. Screens can adopt a negative connotation as superficial impediments to experiencing the world around us. It’s easy for artists to critique our reliance on phones and laptops, which can lead us to be less present in our surroundings. Yet Just points to the work of Harvard University visual and environmental studies professor Giuliana Bruno, who ties the screen back to architecture. In this sense, Just sees the creation of video art as the making of an environment. “You can also consider the screen a boundary between the outside and inside, public and private space, creating a kind of intimacy,” Just said. What video art lacks in objecthood, it can make up in a unique, immersive environment.