How do works of art endure over time in the face of aging materials and changing interpretations of their meaning? How do decay, technological obsolescence, and the blending of old and new media affect what an artwork is and can become? And how can changeable artworks encourage us to rethink our assumptions of a work of art as fixed and static? Revisions—Zen for Film, on view this fall and winter in the Bard Graduate Center Focus Gallery, explores these questions through Zen for Film, one of the most evocative artworks by the Korean-American artist Nam June Paik (1932–2006). Created during the early 1960s, Zen for Film consists of the screening of blank film leader for several minutes. As the film ages and wears in the projector, the viewer is confronted with a constantly evolving work. Revisions—Zen for Film provides a fresh perspective on an artwork with a rich history of display by asking precisely what, how, and when is Zen for Film?
On View September 18, 2015–February 21, 2016 at Bard Graduate Center Gallery
More: http://www.bgc.bard.edu/gallery/gallery-at-bgc/revisions.html
Digital Interactive: http://bgcdml.net/revisions/interactive.htm
Video narrated by curator Hanna B. Hölling, Andrew W. Mellon Visiting Professor, Cultures of Conservation, Bard Graduate Center