Documentation is hugely important for various fields of museum work. It forms the foundation for practices such as the acquisition, presentation and loaning of artworks. Quality documentation of a work is a prerequisite for planning exhibitions, organising transport, designing tailored restoration methods and preservation strategies, and for assessing work-specific risks that need to be mitigated. And when it comes to works of media art, documentation is actually one of the most important tools for guaranteeing the long-term preservation of the work.
“From Source to Poem” by Rosa Barba
The film installation From Source to Poem (2016) by the artist Rosa Barba was acceded to the collection of the Nationalgalerie in the Hamburger Bahnhof in 2020. The 35 mm film projection includes images of the world’s largest media archive, the Packard Campus of the National Audiovisual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia, and a solar farm in the Mojave Desert in California. A sound collage made from archive recordings and noises composed for the piece accompany the images in the film.
During the acquisition process, in addition to research on the content of the work, documentation work was carried out on the previous presentations of From Source to Poem. Efforts were also made to identify which qualities of the components that comprise the work were essential to the concept, and in which constellations. In this way, staff were able to ascertain the key elements of the identity of the work.
The installation instructions supplied by the artist provided an important foundation here, as they outlined factors such as the technology to be used, the spatial specifications and lighting required, the desired acoustics, as well as details on setting the work up and maintaining it. In written and verbal communication with the artist, the work details were able to be more clearly defined, adding further information such as details on the production of the film.
This research work identified that, for example, the analogue projection of the 35 mm film for From Source to Poem was particularly important. Conversations with film engineers who had been involved in installing the artwork in previous exhibitions were able to fill in the blanks with regards to the analogue film material that was used and the projector that was required, making it possible to give a detailed assessment of the future availability of this media and equipment, which were both so important for the artwork.
Particularly for artworks that incorporate elements of audiovisual media, the acquisition is a crucial moment, because it is in the course of the acquisition process that the fundamental documentation of the characteristics that define the work is made. It is only through this work that the collection is able to ascertain which objects, equipment, and other components are required for the long-term preservation of the work, and gain an understanding of the correct composition or arrangement of the work and the special conditions required for its presentation.
What’s more, vulnerabilities inherent to the work can be anticipated and conservational measures can be planned in advance, thereby avoiding misguided interpretations and damage, or even the loss or destruction of artworks. As such, the documentation produced in the process of acquiring a work can ensure that even under altered circumstances, the identity of a work of media art can be preserved, allowing it to be exhibited in the future in accordance with its original conception.
“Fat to Ashes” by Pauline Curnier Jardin
The video installation Fat to Ashes by Pauline Curnier Jardin was shown for the first time in the artist’s eponymous solo exhibition at the Hamburger Bahnhof (13 April to 19 September 2021). For this show, the artist designed an installation for the Historische Halle of the museum that was almost as tall as the ceiling and which the public could walk into. In the interior of the installation, a film by the artist was projected onto a large screen featuring scenes from a religious festival honouring St. Agatha in the Sicilian city of Catania, footage of the slaughtering of a pig, as well as images from carnival in Cologne.
In the title of her work, the artist makes reference to the period between the beginning of carnival on Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) and Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent in the Christian calendar. As such, the title already contains a reference to the tension displayed in the film between ceremonial exuberance, hedonistic excess, and spectacle on the one side, and martyrdom, death, and various forms of violence on the other.
The entanglement or simultaneity of seemingly contradictory elements was also reflected in the installation. The load-bearing steel construction was cladded with soft, cream-coloured foam, which with its rounded forms and the arched openings dotting the façade called to mind both an amphitheatre like the Colosseum in Rome and a two-layer marzipan cake.
In various other ways, the installation made visual and thematic references to the message of the film work, perhaps even intensifying it. The installation – which was designed by the artist herself and constructed together with the artist – offered a palpable manifestation of the immaterial aspects of Fat to Ashes that were so central to the work. The exhibition architecture and sound settings help to provide a physical embodiment of the immersive experiences the artist sought to convey – of monumentality, of being overwhelmed, or of being imprisoned in nightmarish scenarios.
As such, the exhibition at the Hamburger Bahnhof is an important reference for future presentations of the artwork. For this reason, this iteration was documented in precise detail by way of photographs, video recordings, construction plans and equipment lists; even though this is just one of many conceivable ways of exhibiting this artwork. As can be seen, the documentation of iterations of a work of media art provides important points of reference for how to understand the interpretive leeway afforded by variable work components when such a multifaceted work is exhibited.
“The best animals are the flat animals, Version 1” by Diana Thater
When Diana Thater’s three-channel video installation “The best animals are the flat animals, Version 1” (1998) was to be exhibited again 10 years after it was last shown, efforts first had to be made to assess how up to date the existing installation instructions were.
Originally, the visual content of “The best animals” was supposed to be projected from laserdiscs or DVDs, using CRT projectors. Over the course of the preparation work for the exhibition in 2021, however, a decision was made in dialogue with the artist that for this and future presentations, instead of the originally specified (and now outdated) storage media and devices, new technologies were to be used. To this end, the original analogue video material, which the artist had recorded on magnetic tape was digitised and reprocessed, ensuring that the original aesthetic of the work is retained even when contemporary equipment was used to project it.
Since analogue video formats are now obsolete, migrating the content to digital formats is an important aspect when it comes to ensuring the long-term preservation of artworks based on analogue video material. At the same time, digitisation can significantly alter an artwork. For this reason, it is extremely important to ensure that the essential properties that define the artwork are retained after digitisation. In addition to this, it is crucial to document the measures that were taken, including the entire decision-making process and the individuals involved in it, in order to be able to later differentiate between unwanted changes and those that are permissible, and perhaps even necessary.
Works of media art are often dependent upon technologies that will become outdated in the near future. In order to preserve these works, it is therefore necessary to plan regular revisions and to carry out conservation work at regular intervals. However, since both hardware and software continue to evolve and change at an increasingly rapid pace, it is important to anticipate technological changes and implement conservation strategies ahead of time. The preservation of works of media art is thus a process, and requires continual engagement from the individuals and institutions involved.
Project management: Jee-Hae Kim
Project team: Elisa Carl (research assistant), Andrea Sartorius (research associate), Lihi Levie (visiting researcher)
Thanks to: Rosa Barba, Pauline Curnier Jardin, Diana Thater, Robert Haag, 24Frame Kinoprojektion GmbH & Co. KG
Funded by: German Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM)
Project duration: 01.01.2021 to 31.12.2022