Where does the life of media art lie? The materiality of an artwork is crucial to its life but when it comes to media art it becomes trickier to tackle. On a conceptual level, it plays a certain role in defining a work’s identity as ‘art’ as in such classical art as painting and sculpture, while its physical components are less critical in many cases than images and experiences they create. The same video can be played on a CRT monitor or on a LCD television; analog videos can be converted into digital ones varying in pixel resolution. The same work of art can be reproduced many times over, drawing on archival materials such as the artist’s drawings and specifications.

On the level of conservation, what should be conserved and what does it mean by ‘conservation’ in the first place in the context of media art? Media art is dependent upon technological equipments in large measure. Due to the rapid development of technology, the devices become easily outdated and are destined to be replaced at some stages. Who would then decide to make the change? Would this change ruin the work’s originality if the decision is made by someone else other than the artist?

These fundamental issues will be discussed by exploring some of Paik’s major works from the perspectives of museum specialists working in the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Korea. The focus will be on the ‘objecthood’ and ‘biography’ of Paik’s artworks, as well as the day-to-day practicalities of “how-to”. To what extent do the material conditions for a work of media art contribute to its identity as art? How could the work’s life be shape-shifting not only by the artist but the museum? In what ways should institutional policies and strategies deal with ‘becoming old’ of once new media?

• Interview – Hanna Hölling, Bernhard Serexhe, Glenn Wharton
• On the Identity of Nam June Paik’s Changeable Multimedia Installations in the Context of Their Conservation – Hanna Hölling
• Context and Structures in the Preservation of Digital Art – Bernhard Serexhe
• Disrupted Circuits: Managing Nam June Paik Video Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art – Glenn Wharton

ISBN: 978-89-97128-08-2
10,000 won