Audiovisual practises in the 15M: technological innovation, documentary and video artivism

This article presents the results of research on collaborative audiovisual practices emerging in Spain in the 15M mobilization cycle in 2011. In this period, there are numerous collectives and citizen platforms that drive audiovisual projects aimed at self-representation and political impact. This phenomenon set up a complex ecosystem of audiovisual practices that navigate between activism and artistic creation, and that foresee a novel audiovisual landscape in which video intersects with digital experimentation techniques and influences of other artistic practises. For the analysis of such extensive and heterogeneous production, we started from an ad hoc designed methodology based on the documentary review of these practices from a communication, processual and aesthetic perspective. The study categorizes the different audiovisual practises by observing their themes and languages until a media ecosystem that collects historical claims is revealed – from feminism and ecologism to citizen participation – and in which classic formats coexist – for example, collaborative documentary – and innovative strategies from the use of technology – videostreaming, social media, etc. –; public space interventions; and actions from audiovisual and art as an expression of protest. Around 15M, a new type of media, artistic and audiovisual activism was perceived, which not only was carried out by the citizens but also had professionals from different fields (from film and art, to computer science or architecture) who amplified the message from (auto) representations that reveal, in turn, a strong aesthetic impression.