- [Announcer] The greatest advance in television.

- [Richard] In the '60s and '70s, TV had become such an icon

that, that artists couldn't resist just fooling with it.

- It was all pretty much new,

and it was really taking sort of your standard TV sets

and just making it really crazy.

But the inherent vice of televisions

is it is a consumer electronic.

- Unlike painting and sculptures,

these electronic pieces, they could just go any time.

That was always the big threat to this in a museum.

- [Jennifer] You have these pieces that if it breaks down,

what do you do?

- The first person we call is CT Lui.

- Lui's always been the first person we go to.

- It's because of my father,

they're able to be maintained, they're able to be shown,

they're able to be put out in the world.

- [Peter] Within the conservation field,

this is critically necessary.

You can see just the enthusiasm he has for this technology.

(gentle music)

(upbeat music)

- [Jennifer] When people started using video,

it was sort of this experimental media, so everybody was sort of wanting

to know how it worked, what you could do with it.

- Any major institution that has video art,

probably my father has touched in some way.

- [Jennifer] The Whitney.

- [Jennifer] The Met.