Programme of lectures on multimedia installations

[Marieke Istha]

Programme of lectures on multimedia installations
October 10th, 2002
ICN, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

‘…because of the performance aspect of many installations, conservators
working with this medium will need to look beyond the material and consider
that the “heart” of a work might lie primarily in its less tangible
qualities. Preserving for the future something that is above all an
experience might require conservators to take a more fluid view of what may
or may not be changed about a work, challenging conventional notions of
accuracy and authenticity.’
William A. Real (2001). ‘Toward guidelines for practice in the preservation
and documentation of technology-based installation art’. Journal of the
American Institute for Conservation, Vol. 40, No. 3, p. 226.

More and more museums for contemporary art are collecting installations in
which various media are used. These acquisitions are surrounded by
considerable problems. Which aspects play a role in the conservation and
re-installation of multi media installations? What are the criteria for
preservation and re-installation? Is there a need for more technical
know-how to ensure that these installations can also be presented in the
future? How can installations be registered and documented? Without
solutions, a number of these works will, in the long term, have to be given
up as lost.

On October 10th, 2002, the ICN and the Netherlands Media Art Institute,
Montevideo/TBA (NIM) will therefore present an international programme of
lectures on the conservation and re-installation of multi media
installations. The lectures are organized in order to bring about an
exchange of expertise in the field of installations.

Lecture programme:
The Variable Media Network: Perspectives
Carol Stringari (Conservator), Caitlin Jones (Fellow) and Jon Ippolito
(Artist and Associate Curator of Media Arts), Guggenheim Museum. The
Variable Media Network, an initiative of the Guggenheim Museum and the
Daniel Langlois Foundation, is an alliance of various American organizations
that is aimed at the management and conservation of installations,
electronic art and performance art.
<http://www.guggenheim.org/press_releases/newmedia_pr.html>
<http://www.guggenheim.org/variablemedia/variable_media_initiative.html>

Presentation of research
In 2001, Pip Laurenson (Conservator, TATE) started a four-year study of the
conservation and management of ‘time-based media art’. On the basis of six
case studies and a comparative study of the practice of conservation at the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the TATE, Pip Laurenson will attempt
to formulate guidelines for a ‘best practice’ in the area of conservation
and management of ‘time-based media art’.
An interdisciplinary approach of the conservation and re-installation of
installations
Jill Sterrett (Head of Conservation and Acting Director of Collections,
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) was involved in TechArchaeology: A
Symposium on Installation Art Preservation (January 2000), and in the course
of her lecture will tell the audience about the interdisciplinary approach
to management and conservation of installations within the SF MOMA.See:
Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, Vol. 40, No. 3.

This meeting will be followed by an expert meeting taking place in the
afternoon, in order to promote international cooperation with regard to this
issue. The participants in this closed meeting will be: the lecturers from
the programme, representatives from the ICN, the NIM and the Foundation for
the Conservation of Contemporary Art (SBMK), and various experts from
European museums and institutes.

Lecture programme MULTI MEDIA INSTALLATIONS
Instituut Collectie Nederland, 10 October 2002

9.30		Coffee & tea
10.00		Welcome by the chairperson
Introduction
Vivian van Saaze (Researcher, ICN)
10.20		The Variable Media Network: Perspectives
Carol Stringari (conservator), Caitlin Jones (Fellow) and Jon Ippolito
(Artist and Associate Curator of Media Arts), Guggenheim Museum N.Y.
11.00		Presentation of research
Pip Laurenson (conservator, TATE)
11.40		Coffee break
11.55 		An interdisciplinary approach of the conservation and
re-installation of  installations
Jill Sterrett (Head of Conservation and Acting Director of Collections,
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)
12.35		Questions to the speakers
13.00 - 14.00	Lunch

Language: English
Admission Fee: euro 45,-  (students euro 20,-)

For more information and admission:
Instituut Collectie Nederland, Monique de Louwere
T +31 (0)20 3054657
E Monique.de.Louwere at icn.nl


________________________________________

Marieke Istha
Communicatie

Nederlands Instituut voor Mediakunst
Montevideo/Time Based Arts
Keizersgracht 264
1016 EV Amsterdam
T 020 6237101
F 020 6244423
istha at montevideo.nl
www.montevideo.nl