Abstract

Human being is both a natural and cultural being，which has been in the state of paradox and at the tense confrontation between humanity and divinity，emotion and rationality，the physical and the psychological. It has experienced the conflict between its mental and physical nature. With the features of “idealism” and “rationality”，the spiritual nature of human being has transformed and denied its natural demanding from id. The id cannot be canceled，but can only be temporarily suppressed or transferred. Non-rationality，which is closer to id，is a counter-reaction to rationality. Non-rationality is related to the emotion and perception of human being. Rationalism basically rejects instincts，which leads to abnormal development of culture. Non-rationalism highlights id，which easily leads to the emergence of the hedonism culture.

The paradox of human being is also the paradox of culture. They are the mutual cause-effect. Culture is the consequence of human activities，and culture also influences the construction of self-consciousness. From the perspective of dualism，Plato regards the body and the soul as two opposing sides. Christian theologians accepted the Platonic’s thoughts and expressed it in the terms of theology. According to their opinion，body is something dirty and spirit is pure. Didacticism proposes rationality instead of divinity. Descartes established the theoretical system of rationalism，encouraged the spirituality，but excluded the body. Nietzsche liberated the body from Plato’s notions，the Christian God and Descartes’ rationality. Since then，a lot of thinkers try to dismantle the building of rationalism from different perspectives. However，neither the philosophy of mind which excludes the body，nor the philosophy of body，realizes the unity and complementarity between the spirit and the body，rationality and non-rationality.

The Network Video Art emerges in the context of “the body’s turn”. The contemporary negativistic thought，as one of the post-modern thoughts，deconstructs the essentialism and highlights the non-rationality. It echoes the “Body Aesthetics”. The Network Video Art is a kind of Image Art. From the perspective of “image”，We are in the picture era. “Picture’s turn” actually highlights the sensible level of human being and liberates the sensibility of human being. The image signal somehow suggests the release of id. The emergence and development of Network Video Art relies on the development of network platform. In terms of media，the distinctive disparity between the network media and traditional media is the disordering and decentralization. The disordering of network media is shown through its hyper-textual structure and the media de-authorization. From the perspective of arts，the contemporary arts appears the tendency of secularization and desires writing. All these leads to the body feature of the network video arts.

The body feature of the Network Video Arts is characterized by its pornography，jocosity and narcissism. It implies the encouragement of hedonism. Therefore，the network video art appears the characteristic of “anti-artistic” The significance of the network video art of “the body’s turn” is to break the extreme control of rationality，free the human sensibilities and encourage the development of the “democracy of image”. However，if it goes to its extremes，it will lead to the loss of the spirituality and make people become the slave of feelings. When the network video arts is in the state of the body carnival，some remedy is necessary. So，we propose a sense of tragedy and suffering in the network video arts，not only encourage the improvement of aesthetic appreciation.

The hedonism Can’t represent all of the network video arts. The arts also reflect the state of human being：conflict between self-identification and self-development. Self-development refers to the self-improvement according to idealistic principle，which shows the pursuit of truth，kindness and beauty in the arts. The release of id is partially limited by social control，including law，moral，media and industrial regulations. Some arts，which express the “idealistic me”，constitute some parts of the Network Video Arts.

Folk and free nature of the Network Video Arts might lead to a misunderstanding：The Network Video Arts is a kind of perceptual release. Such is the case of another type of hegemony，which we should criticize. The misunderstanding seems related to the emergence of the contemporary nihilism. Nihilism，as a negative thought，ignores all values and easily goes to the pursuit of physical experience. If it is recognized that all of us have the transcendental needs，“the pursuit of the divinity” will become a necessity. This pursuit implies the self-improvement，self-identification and the hope of human being.

Keywords：Network；Video；Art；Physical