CAN MUSEUMS SAVE VIDEO INSTALLATION ART AT THE MOMENT OF ACCESSION?
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Authors
Morton, Jacqueline
Issue Date
2004
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this master's project is to identify and improve the accession methods used by registrars to document and preserve video installation art in contemporary art museums. By focusing my research on preservation issues specifically affecting video installation art, I outline how registrars can better collaborate with artists, archivists, conservators, curators, exhibit technicians, and video preservation specialists in an effort to better understand and care for this artwork at the moment it is accessioned. Through an examination of published and unpublished literature, attendance at two professional museum conferences, interviews with eighteen contemporary art museum professionals, artists, and video preservation specialists, and a case study analysis of the accession and preservation practices used at two contemporary art museums, I offer registrars recommended guidelines and resources to assist them in the accession and long-term preservation of video installation art. The Background section of this project sketches the history of video installation art in museum settings, the four essential components comprising all video installation artworks, and the inherent preservation issues affecting these components. The Glossary section provides definitions for the most frequently used terms describing video installation art. One recommendation to emerge from my research findings is the creation of an interdepartmental museum "team" approach for accessioning and preserving video installation art. It would pull together resources from the registration, conservation, administration, curatorial, and exhibitions departments to create strategies and solutions for preserving video installation art, thus alleviating the burden placed upon any one person or department. In the case study portion of my Findings and Conclusions section, I explain in more detail the team approach currently being used with great success at the SFMOMA.