CHAPTER 8: On Video Art Preservation: A Conversation with Fabrizio Plessi¹

The dialogue concerns the distinctive features of Fabrizio Plessi's artistic practice in relation to the conservation of his works. Plessi uses in a conceptual way multiple techniques and different formats: drawing, design schemes, film, videotape, video performance, video sculpture, single-channel and multi-channel video installation, often on a large scale, in environmental mode. This brings us to the crucial question of the conservation of, in particular, videographic works already subjected to obsolescence, an issue which also stemmed from the research carried out to support the preservation activities performed by La Camera Ottica Laboratory, University of Udine. The focus on the artist's intentions is fundamental to face the series of problems that have arisen following the digital migration. The ultimate conservative purpose is to make possible renewed experiences of these works with the implicit goal of reconstructing the vast production and exhibition history.