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HIDE

Video or Not To Be
BY
Kjartan Slettemark

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. 

Aspect ratio 1.33:1 (4:3)
Prod. format Generic SD-video
Duration 00:04:23
Language Swedish
Color Color
Year 1985
In text Kjartan Slettemark
Recent screenings Mar 23, 2024
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About the artist

Kjartan Slettemark

1932-2008. Kjartan Slettemark has been using moving image as a means of expression since the 60’s. A crucial work in experimental film is Nixon Visions (1971), a collaboration with Hans Esselius. As early as 1967 and 1968 he made the films Symfoni Realista 1–3, based on politically charged performance-shows. During the 60’s and 70’s Kjartan Slettemark often filmed with an aesthetics related to the current political movement at the time, the works were always presented at performances and happenings, such as Polisväxten (1969). In the 80’s Kjartan Slettemark moved on to video technique and was one of the co-founders of the video workshop Video Now (Video Nu) at Skeppsholmen in Stockholm.

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