Vasıf Kortun

The research project titled “Technological Art Preservation”, launched under the direction of Sabancı University and digitalSSM and continuing in cooperation with Digilogue since January 2020, continues to be discussed in different ways with conferences organized by professionals of the sector.

During the January 17th session of the conference series, Vasif Kortun, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Foundation of Arts Initiatives, gave a speech entitled “Monument and Document, Artist Practice Between the Work and the Archive: Unequal Conditions, Global Expectations”. The main line of the speech was the use of technology as a material, originality in the work of art, the importance of “elimination”in the process of preservation, and the evaluation of the whole process within the scope of ethical values.

The video shooting device Portapak, part camera and part recorder, released by Sony in 1967, is a material that paves the way for democratization in media history.  With this device, the shortening of the usual duration of filming, the tool being relatively affordable and the possibility of screening with television in almost everyone’s home have shifted the artist from film to video. And this has led Portapak to create a bounce in alternative communication channels by mediating different expressions.    So, what should an institution do if it wants to preserve or display the work of an artist who has produced by using this material?