IN AN AGE when moving images can be recorded, downloaded, played, transferred and stored digitally and instantaneously almost anywhere at any time, the term 'videotape' sounds anachronistic and Jurassic. That may explain why organisers of 40 Years of Video Art in Germany and Hong Kong are talking of 'rescuing' and 'preserving' an art form, which they fear may well soon become extinct together with its medium.
Opened yesterday, the exhibition is presented by the Goethe-Institut Hongkong and supported by Videotage and Para/Site Art Space. Curated by Professor Wulf Herzogenrath, who initiated the project four years ago in Germany, it features 59 pieces of work, totalling some 27 hours of footage, by the same number of artists. They include international names such as Samuel Beckett, Rebecca Horn, Joseph Beuys, Marina Abramovic, Nam June Paik and Christian Jankowski.
The show, which ran in five arts institutions across Germany in 2004, aims to raise awareness among museums, archives, art historians and the public of the need to save video art made on tapes - also known as 'single-channel works' - from fading out in this technologically advanced era. It also poses the questions of who should preserve the art form and how. For Herzogenrath, its heritage is as important as the work itself. 'If we do not think of a better way of handling videotapes, all we will have left of video art soon is white noise,' the director of the Kunsthalle Bremen art museum says.
The professor now wants to spread this message to other countries. He says video artists in the late 1960s and early 70s worked on tapes (such as Betamax), reels of different sizes and with different technology. 'These kinds of machines and tapes are disappearing,' he says. 'An old tape may last for 20 years or longer but if you don't take care of it, it could be destroyed immediately. We have to think about what video art will be in 50 years. People in archives, museums and television have to think not only about the content but also its preservation.'
The programme director of Videotage, Isaac Leung Hok-bun, shares his concerns, although he sees this exhibition more as a comprehensive introduction to the art form and an opportunity to view video art works from around the world. 'Hong Kong people may not know the overseas works very well, so this show gives them a chance to compare and contrast works by locals and artists from the outside,' he says.
'Through this exhibition we can also review our archive, the old works, works that were made when Videotage first emerged 20 years ago. At the same time, we can explore the impact they might make in the future.'
