The challenge of preserving works of media art has been an issue that YCAM has also long confronted. Ever since YCAM opened 15 years ago, we have been creating media art works while also, pouring endless attention on the maintenance and repair of these works in order to exhibit them more than once.

During this time, there have been a number of problems in the process of conservation. From software created only a few years ago not functioning, being unable to find the same parts or equipment to replace broken ones, having to record detailed blueprints and comments on source codes or even the original maker will forget how to use it, to staff members who produced the work no longer working. Each time a problem like these occurred, it required recreating those parts, or organizing the pertinent documents.

However, when works are maintained in such a way, there comes a time when the cost becomes realistically unsustainable, and poses difficulty in exhibiting it in the same or original way. Furthermore, the trends of technology used in the works change rapidly, changing the context and meaning of the work even within a short period of time. For example, works that use AI technology will probably acquire a different meaning once AI technology becomes widespread in society.

But this is not a problem limited to media art, as the same could be said for artworks in general when viewed in the long run.
It is incredibly difficult to preserve a physical object for eternity, and even if it were achieved, it is also another challenge to preserve the context in which the work was made, such as why it was made, or the background and intent of its creation, throughout the changing times.

What, then, can be preserved, and what ought to be? This question relates to the essence of YCAM, as it challenges us to think about how we can contribute to the region culturally, and what should be preserved through the institution.

We came up with “Mausoleum of Media Art” when we invited the artist exonemo as the co-curator and began discussions starting with the conservation of media art. We then began asking the artists who have been involved with YCAM in the past 15 years what views they had regarding the life and death of an artwork, and whether they had any work that they would like to dedicate to the burial chamber. The answers we received to this question reflect the situations and ideology of each artist, and are ripe with suggestion. These would end up being exhibited in various spots surrounding the mausoleum of media art.

In the burial chambers, there are things that have been dedicated according to the artist’s will, which remind us of what it was like when the work was exhibited during its lifetime. A burial chamber, or grave, is usually a place where the visitors turn their imaginations towards the deceased. Inside these burial chambers, one can dwell on these works of the past.

Thinking about the grave simultaneously leads us to think about the end of things. The end is followed by the future. I hope this will be an opportunity for us to think not only about what kind of art, but what other important things we can leave for the future.