DOCAM Best Practice Guide : Some tools and principles specific to the preservation and conservation of time-based media artworks

© DOCAM 2010

Day 2, Session 5 Richard Gagnier (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) Alexandre Mingarelli (DOCAM)   Reflecting on the knowledge acquired through the case study approach that the DOCAM Conservation/Preservation Committee adopted, some principles and concepts appear quite specific to the preservation issues of time-based media artworks. For these works, the paradigm of authenticity operates as it defines itself in relation to the work’s integrity to be maintained...   * Please note that this presentation was given in French but has been dubbed in English

... Moreover, the question of historical setting and significance of an artwork is not solely defined by the maintenance of the original equipment. From these concepts, we will present a sequential decision-making tree model built to formulate preservation strategies for time-based media artworks.

Richard Gagnier is the Head of Conservation at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts since Fall 2007. He graduated from Université de Montréal with a B.Sc. (Honours) in Chemistry, and a minor in Art History with a strong component on modern and contemporary art, theory and discourse. He completed the course requirements of the Master’s program in Art Conservation (MAC) research stream of Queen University, Kingston, Ontario. He joined the team of the Restoration and Conservation Laboratory at the National Gallery of Canada in 1984 where he successively developed expertise as assistant-conservator and conservator of contemporary art until 2007. His practise encompasses contemporary art media such as painting, sculpture, installation as well as timed-based media. He is member of a research group on the re-exhibition of contemporary art lead by Francine Couture (Art History, UQAM). As part of the DOCAM research project, he led the activities of the Conservation/Preservation Committee for the five years tenure of this research.

Alexandre Mingarelli joined DOCAM near the end of 2008 to help complete the Alliance’s case studies, conduct research, and assist in the writing of a best practices guide for the Conservation and Preservation Committee led by Richard Gagnier. Through his educational background and experience, Alexandre has brought expertise in media arts electronics and the audiovisual field to the Committee. He has also produced a range of artistic work and holds a Bachelor of Art History, both of which have proven an asset in DOCAM’s examination of the ethical issues surrounding conservation and preservation.

Link:

• A Preservation Guide for Technology-Based Artworks