Spectacle: The Music Video - the first ever museum retrospective of the artform of music video has just opened at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.

Spectacle explores the music video format as an important and influential art form in contemporary culture, employing immersive environments, photography, video screenings, objects and interactive installations. The history of the medium is charted from the early pioneering work of Devo, to the mainstream icon-building by Michael Jackson and Madonna, to present day exponents OK Go and Lady Gaga.

And Spectacle also uses the museum environment to display the art and craft that went into the making of some of the most groundbreaking music videos ever made. Just some of the artefacts on show are:

This groundbreaking exhibition is curated by Jonathan Wells and Meg Grey Wells of Flux, and runs from March 3rd to September 3rd 2012 at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati - a building designed by Zaha Hadid, and the first of the famous architect's designs to be built - and will tour cities in North America and beyond thereafter.