Revisions – Zen for Film - Softcover

Hanna B.Hölling

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1941792049 ISBN 13: 9781941792049

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2015

Synopsis

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 art as fixed and static? Revisions is a unique exploration of all of these questions. In this catalog, which accompanies an exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center, Hanna B. Holling examines Zen for Film, also known as Fluxfilm no. 1, one of the most evocative works by Korean-American artist Nam June Paik. Created during the early 1960s, this piece consists of a several-minutes-long screening of blank film; as the film ages and wears in the projector, the viewer is confronted with a constantly evolving work. Because of this mutability, the project, as HA lling shows, undermines any assumption that art can be subject to a single interpretation. By focusing on a single artwork and unfolding the inspirations, transitions, and residues that have occurred in the course of that work's existence, Revisions offers an in-depth look at how materiality enhances visual knowledge. A fresh perspective on a piece with a rich history of display, this catalog invites interdisciplinary dialogue and asks precisely what-and when-an artwork might be.

About this title

Review:

"Revisions Zen for Film"is refreshing and thought provoking. It presents a new take on both exhibition histories and Paik studies through its close reading of a single work from many different informed perspectives, sparking unexpected associations. It skillfully brings together an art historical approach with that of a conservator and a curator, contributing a new way of thinking about conservation, preservation, and curatorial practice. --Sarah Cook, coauthor of Rethinking Curating and cofounder of CRUMB"

“Hölling’s non-linear, circular discourse aesthetically parallels how Zen for Film engages with duration, systems, process, media and time. The book’s attention to Zen for Film’s afterlife seems an important addition to existing historical analysis of the artwork, as it maps out a critical territory on which complex issues of conservation and curation of both ‘old’ and ‘new’ media unfold and intersect to develop new methodologies, sensibilities and strategies. It is thus a significant contribution towards a growing body of discourse, practice and research focusing on the afterlives of ‘new’ media artworks, and should be read by both conservators and curators engaging with such issues in the context of museums and galleries.”
Journal of Curatorial Studies

"In Revisions—Zen for Film, Hanna B. Hölling offers many original observations about modern and contemporary art. Innovative in its conception and execution, Revisions investigates a critical moment in recent art history—namely, the appearance of 'new media' and its entry into, and historicization by, the art world and academia."
Matthew Jesse Jackson, University of Chicago

About the Author:

Hanna B. Holling is Andrew W. Mellon visiting professor in cultures of conservation at the Bard Graduate Center in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1941792049
• ISBN 13: 9781941792049
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 220