Home - 2.1 Conservation strategies 2.1.6 Reconstruction

2.1 Conservation strategies

2.1.6 Reconstruction

 

Reconstruction consists of reproducing the behaviours and effects of a work using few or no components from the original piece. This is possible, for example, in highly specific cases where a technological work includes a software program in which the artist has created objects accompanied by a schematic description. The program may also have been written in a universal programming language (e.g. C language) to enable it to be read by any operating system. This of course considerably facilitates the reconstruction efforts.

 

Certain artists, such as David Rokeby, create their own software and programming tools. Ownership of the code that allows the works to function can also accelerate any future reconstruction process for artists and restorers alike.

 

The concept of reconstruction can also be applied to the installation and sculpture domains. In both, one seeks to reproduce the physical appearance of a work using new materials. The same techniques and assembly methods are not necessarily adopted, but the work’s original shape and dimensions are nevertheless respected.