Reconstructing Swiss Video Art from the 1970s and 1980s

Published after the 2008 exhibition and symposium Reconstructing Swiss Video Art from the 1970s and 1980s by the AktiveArchive research project in collaboration with the Kunstmuseum Luzern. AktiveArchive combines art-scientific and conservation-restoration research in the field of electronic art: historical and methodical research, documentation and analysis are contents of the project. The exhibition provided the first opportunity to present an overview of 20 years of Swiss video art: more than 20 installations and over 30 videos were selected as representative of it. In the accompanying symposium there were discussions regarding the concept of the exhibition, the principle of revival implemented in the reconstructions, and the problems raised by the long-term conservation of electronic works.