SEMINARS 2008 Seminar
2008 Seminar: Documentation and Conservation of Media Artworks
The third DOCAM seminar, Documentation and Conservation of Media Artworks, was held at the Art History and Communication Studies Department of the McGill University from January 7 to April 14, 2008. The seminar was instructed by Will Straw, teacher at McGill University and president of the DOCAM Pedagogical Committee (2008):
• Course description & readings
• Video presentations from guest speakers
• Student essays
Curriculum du cours / Course description
Documentation and Conservation of Media Artworks / Documentation et conservation des Arts Médiatiques
Course lecturer : Dr Sylvie Lacerte
The Variable Media Initiative
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January 7, 2008Alain Depocas, Director of the DOCAM Research Alliance, Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science, and Technology |
| Alain Depocas © DOCAM 2008 |
History of technology and presentation of DOCAM’s Timeline
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January 14, 2008Will Straw, McGill University |
| Will Straw © DOCAM 2008 |
Read more: History of technology and presentation of DOCAM’s Timeline
Curating media art, documenting installation and participation
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January 21, 2008Jean Gagnon, Director of the Daniel Langlois Foundation |
| Jean Gagnon © DOCAM 2008 |
Read more: Curating media art, documenting installation and participation
Historiography and theory of documentation and conservation of media art
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February 4, 2008Sylvie Lacerte, Coordinator of the DOCAM Research |
| Sylvie Lacerte © DOCAM 2008 |
Read more: Historiography and theory of documentation and conservation of media art
Metadata and Thesaurus
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February 11, 2008James Turner, EBSI, Université de Montréal |
| James Turner © DOCAM 2008 |
Cataloguing case studies at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
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March 17, 2008Anne-Marie Zeppetelli, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal |
| Anne-Marie Zeppetelli © DOCAM 2008 |
Read more: Cataloguing case studies at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
A collaboration artist/programmer
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March 31, 2008Alexandre Castonguay, artistMathieu Bouchard, programmer |
| Alexandre Castonguay © DOCAM 2008 |
Student essays
The texts assembled here reflect a sampling of the issues discussed in the DOCAM Winter 2008 graduate seminar, “Documentation and Conservation of Media Artworks,” offered by McGill University under the direction of Dr. Sylvie Lacerte.
"Janet Cardiff’s Forty Part Motet: Preserving the Idea of a Reproducible Sound Experience" Sonia Brooks
Janet Cardiff’s Forty Part Motet presents an interesting study for the preservation of new media artworks from both theoretical positions of reproduction and technological and/or actual physical methods of preservation. Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Ages of Its Technological Reproducibility” as a theoretical framework, this paper will focus on exploring the ground between the preservation of this artwork as a piece of new media art, while examining the piece through its own basis in reproduction. As I will demonstrate, Cardiff approaches this piece solely as a work of conceptual art, which frees her from dealing with literal issues that later arise during the execution of the art. Forty Part Motet is a work of reproduction in and of itself; however, the way in which the work is executed, especially regarding its installations, causes the piece to fail in its ability to recreate a specific experience. I will also argue that exploration of these concepts and ideas are completely vital to the future preservation of this work of art.
"DOCAM Case Study: Corps Pédagogique by Manon De Pauw" Anik Laflamme
Preserving contemporary art today conveys new challenges for museums and exhibition spaces with the emergence of variable media. The knowledge of the technological aspects and the intellectual content of an artwork are essential in order to preserve its integrity and authenticity. In this regard, this case study explores Manon De Pauw’s video performance Corps Pédagogique, created and recorded on MiniDV in 2001, later purchased by the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) in 2007. By analysing the chemical, as well as the mechanical attributes of its original and of its exhibition formats, we hope to bring forward valuable information for the implementation of a strategy of conservation.
Read more: "DOCAM Case Study: Corps Pédagogique by Manon De Pauw" Anik Laflamme
"Medium vs. Message: Another Way of Understanding the Preservation of Media Art" Paulina Mickiewicz
Discussions on how to preserve art are complex. This complexity lies in the fact that what we seek to preserve in art is not simply the art object in itself – the material entity that constitutes the artwork (a painting or a sculpture, for instance) – but we also seek to preserve the integrity of the artwork. In other words, those immaterial aspects that constitute an artwork that we cannot physically touch or feel but that could be understood as the various meanings, messages, or aesthetic experiences that an artwork conveys. Whether they contain video installations or computer based components, media artworks are increasingly affected by the rapidly changing technological environment in which we live. How then should we be approaching the preservation of media art? This paper will explore this question namely on the basis of certain theories on media put forth by Marshall McLuhan. Looking at the problem of the preservation of media art from a communications perspective could contribute to a better understanding of how we should approach and consider media artworks if we want to be successful in their preservation.
"Assembling the Archival Document: A Case Study of David Rokeby’s Seen", Dina Vescio
This paper critically examines the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ archival document for David Rokeby’s Seen (2002) in order to justify “that collecting and archiving can be the beginning, rather than at the end for the critical life of an artwork,” as argued by Graham Beryl in his book Redefining Digital Art (2007). It provides a theoretical analysis based on the document and factual evidence pertaining specifically to Seen.
Read more: "Assembling the Archival Document: A Case Study of David Rokeby’s Seen", Dina Vescio