Emerging institutional models and notions of expertise for the conservation of time-based media works of art

This paper describes four institutional models that have emerged in response to the conservation of time-based media works of art and outlines the key ideas and questions which frame this emerging area of conservation. The paper looks at the way in which conservators explore the significance of the medium, attitudes to change, questions of obsolescence and the impact of the how the artist conceives of their practice on the conservation of these works as they enter the museum. In addressing the conservation of time-based media works of art, this paper highlights the variety of knowledge and expertise required ; expertise that is embodied in a network of people who support these works both inside and outside the museum. The author concludes by suggesting that developing and maintaining these networks has become an essential part of the time-based media conservator’s role.Cette étude décrit quatre modèles institutionnels apparus récemment dans le domaine de la restauration des « time-based media », et présente les principaux enjeux de cette nouvelle discipline. Comment les restaurateurs analysent-ils l’importance du support ? Quelle attitude adoptent-ils face au changement et à l’obsolescence ? Quelles sont les répercussions des méthodes de l’artiste sur la conservation et la restauration des œuvres qui entrent au musée ? L’auteur souligne la diversité des connaissances et des compétences requises. Les différents savoir-faire s’incarnent dans un réseau de professionnels qui interviennent à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur du musée. Les restaurateurs doivent désormais s’attacher à consolider et à développer ces réseaux

From Collection Management to Content Management in Art Documentation: The Conservator as an Editor

It has been widely acknowledged that reinstallations and re-executions of contemporary artworks substantially rely on available documentation. Especially for installations and performances it is crucial to record the artist’s intent, past iterations, and tacit knowledge involved in staging the artwork. The growing presence of contemporary artworks in museum collections increases the importance of documentation as a central focus of collection care. However, collections management systems have limitations in adequately presenting these often rich forms of documentation. Consequently, documentation required for presenting a specific complex artwork is often dispersed across multiple systems, drives, and dossiers inside various departments. In recent years, several initiatives responded to these challenges by implementing a digital platform supporting the conservation of contemporary art. Collaborative networked software such as wiki came into focus as a prominent choice for managing the related documentation. The wiki promises to integrate diverse material in one place and accommodate much-needed requirements such as multiple iterations of an artwork, relations between its elements, and multimedia content. This paper takes the case of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)’s experimental use of MediaWiki to determine whether and under what conditions a wiki is capable of supporting collection care sufficiently in terms of documenting time-based media art. The case further illustrates the consequence of adopting a content management system as knowledge base for conservation. While collections management systems are designed primarily to handle objects using forms, wikis are publishing platforms in the first place and provide a different kind of framework for artwork records. They are designed to employ text and media to compose articles. We propose to conceptualise this consequential role of conservator as a manager of content, an editor

Statins as antifungal agents

This poster paper describes the objectives, approach and use casesof the EC FP7 Integrated Project PERICLES. The project beganon 1st February 2013 and runs for four years. The aim is toresearch and prototype solutions for digital preservation incontinually evolving environments including changes in context,semantics and practices. The project addresses use cases focusingon digital art, media and science.Proceedings source: http://purl.pt/24107/1/iPres2013_PDF/iPres2013-Proceedings.pd

Old media, new media? Significant difference and the conservation of software-based art

This chapter considers the question of whether the conservation of software-based artworks differs significantly from traditional time-based media works of art. In contrast, software is a more diverse, non-standardized, and fast-moving technological environment, and the systems which make up software-based artworks are often more diffuse. The difference for software is that it is not chemical instability that is the focus of conservation, but rather instability in the technological environment upon which they depend. Traditionally, Tate curators have a mixed portfolio that is broadly organized around geographic region and historical period. Exceptions have recently been made for a curator of performance, a curator of photography, and a curator of film. According to David Davies, the artistic medium is to be understood in terms of artistic intentionality. It is therefore the way in which the medium is used to articulate an artistic statement, but also takes into consideration the influence of that medium in the final form of the work

The Management of Display Equipment in Time-based Media Installations

Time-based media installations are works of art that incorporate audio, film, video, 35 mm slides or computer-based elements. This paper aims to develop a practical policy for the care and management of display equipment that forms part of these works. It explores how to identify time-based media installations most at risk from equipment obsolescence. In so doing it touches on key issues, such as how does the conservator balance the artist's and the museum's views about what is important to preserve for the future? What does a conservator do when faced with total loss to a significant component? How can our conservation training and attendant concepts of integrity and authenticity contribute to the development of a good decision or response

Authenticity, Change and Loss in the Conservation of Time-Based Media Installations

This paper focuses on three concepts central to the theory of conservation: authenticity, change and loss. These terms are explored in relation to how they are viewed in traditional conservation practice and how they might usefully be interpreted in relation to time-based media works of art. Discussions about authenticity found in the philosophy of music suggest ways in which conservators might approach concepts of change and loss in relation to time-based media installations

Developing Strategies for the Conservation of Installations Incorporating Time-Based Media: Gary Hill’s Between Cinema and a Hard Place

Strategies for the conservation of a complex installation by Gary Hill (born 1951) are discussed with special reference to the cathode-ray tube monitors and the system that controls the distribution of sound and images. The conservator’s role and responsibilities in the care of time-based media artworks are explored, and particular aspects of this new area of conservation are related to traditional notions of conservation and collections care

The Lives of Artwork

Like us, artworks change. The Lives of Artworks in the Learning Gallery explores the ways in which artworks live on, both inside and outside of the museum, making visible the people who care for the artworks along the way

What are internet artworks and how do we care for them?

'Net art' is, as the name suggests, a form of art created to live on the internet. Like other media art, net art works were often created by artists without the need for art institutions. What is the relationship between net art and the museum now? How does a museum approach collecting and caring for internet artworks? Uncovering the histories of these works is challenging, as technologies become defunct, web domains expire and other records are lost in website upgrades and server migrations. In this short film, we hear from artists, curators and conservators, who explore the lives of these fascinating and challenging artworks. Support for the creation of this film was provided by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation