Seeking the authentic moment: De- and re-materialisations in Paik’s video and multimedia installations

This paper discusses the problem of the maintenance of identity of multimedia works of art despite their physical change. It puts forward the term of changeability as an intrinsic feature describing their character. Observing the artworks’ changing manifestations, this paper poses questions whether and to which degree the concepts derived from musicology and a traditional understanding of the physical object applies to them; further, it investigates the links between the early conceptual art and media art of the 1960s and ’70s in terms of the presumptions of dematerialisation and, consequently, the idea of the instruction and delegated labour. The concept of open work serves the open character of multimedia artworks in terms of their repeated realisation and interpretation. Finally, it seeks to explore the interrelation of artworks’ manifestations and the archive, which, with its retroactive character has implications for both the understanding of the identity of works of art and the understanding of conservation role in its maintenance.