In Video or Not to Be, Slettemark plays with Shakespeare’s famous opening monologue in Hamlet, “To be or not to be, that is the question”. One of the most well-known literary existential questions, Slettemark uses the quote to present the relatively emerging field of video art as a new way to understand how art exists in the world.
From Bergen Kunsthall:The word video comes from the Latin verb videre, “to see”. Video means “I see”, and Slettemark’s title ends up meaning something along the lines of “I see or not to be”. To see and to observe is to be present in the world. I see, therefore I am, or therefore I record myself on video, therefore I am.
Nixon Visions
Hans (Esse Li) Esselius & Kjartan Slettemark
1971, 00:04:00