IMAP
Electronic Media Preservation Symposium
 |
Organized
by Independent Media Arts Preservation (IMAP), Electronic Arts
Intermix (EAI), and the AMIA Independent Media Interest Group,
the IMAP Electronic Media Preservation Symposium is a day-long
event comprised of an introductory lecture, three panel discussions,
and an evening screening of preserved single-channel videotapes.
Panels draw on the expertise of a network of professionals involved
in the electronic media field and will focus on the collection,
documentation, preservation, and exhibition of single-channel,
installation, and computer-based art. Throughout the Symposium,
the documentation and research tools that have been developed
by IMAP in the past few years will be shared, including the
newly launched EAI Online Resource Guide for Exhibiting, Collecting & Preserving Media Art (http://resourceguide.eai.org) and
the IMAP Cataloging Template.
The IMAP Electronic Media Preservation Symposium has been made
possible by support from the New York State Council on the Arts
and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
8:30
- 8:45 am
IMAP Electronic Media Preservation Symposium: An Introduction
Hosted by:
Independent Media Arts Preservation, Electronic Arts Intermix, and the
Independent Media Interest Group
Chair:
Dara Meyers-Kingsley - Independent Media Arts Preservation,
Inc. (IMAP)
Speakers:
Sarah Ziebell - New York University Libraries
Electronic media has been recognized as the new art form of
our time, and the past decade has witnessed dramatic growth
in educational, cultural, and private collections acquiring
and exhibiting works of this type. With this development comes
the imperative to manage and preserve media that is mutable
at its very essence. From single-channel video to computer-based
art composed of digital source code, time-based electronic
media demands new vocabularies and practices for its collection,
preservation, and exhibition. In this welcome address, Sarah
Ziebell will set the stage for the Symposium, highlighting
the overarching concepts that the panels will explore in detail
regarding challenges and trends in the management and persistence
of electronic media works.
8:45
- 10:30 am
IMAP Electronic Media Preservation Symposium: The Documentation of Electronic Media Arts: Addressing Preservation
Challenges
Hosted by:
Independent Media Arts Preservation, Electronic Arts Intermix, and the
Independent Media Interest Group
Chair:
Ann Butler - Fales Library and Special Collections, New York
University
Speakers:
Jeff Martin - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian
Institution
Carol Stringari - Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Michael Katchen - Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc.
Ann Butler - Fales Library and Special Collections, New York
University
Documentation
is critical to making any preservation decisions. Documentation,
created as part of the production, exhibition, and reception
of a media-based art work provides essential information not
only for the historical interpretation of the work, but also
for long-term collection management practices. This panel
will address how caretakers are tackling collection management
issues for electronic media and the supporting materials that
often accompany media collections. Ann Butler will discuss
documentation strategies employed by archives for contemporary
art mixed format collections. Jeff Martin will explore issues
of documentation as they relate to technological obsolescence
and will highlight the specific documentation tools that IMAP
has developed. Carol Stringari will discuss documentation
strategies from the perspective of a contemporary arts conservator
and provide case study analysis of her work at the Guggenheim
Museum. Michael Katchen will highlight some particular challenges
in documenting and preserving new media works for the Franklin
Furnace Archive.
10:30am
- 11:00am
BREAK
11:00am
- 12:00pm
IMAP Electronic Media Preservation Symposium: The Conserving New Media Panel - Part I
Hosted by:
Independent Media Arts Preservation, Electronic Arts Intermix, and the
Independent Media Interest Group
Chair:
Glenn Wharton - Museum of Modern Art and NYU
Speakers:
Francis Hwang - Online Artist and Conservator
Jennifer McCoy - Media Artist
Kevin McCoy - Media Artist
Ann Butler - Fales Library and Special Collections, New York
University
Glenn Wharton - Museum of Modern Art and NYU
This panel
will address the challenges facing caretakers and creators
of new media art. Following a discussion of documenting electronic
media arts during the prior panel, the focus here will be
the complex decisions made to shepherd these works into the
future. During the first part of the session, media artists
Jennifer & Kevin McCoy and Francis Hwang will present
their video and Internet projects. During the second part
of the session, Glenn Wharton (conservator) and Ann Butler
(archivist) will interview the artists about their work to
provide case study analysis of conservation issues. The panelists
will then discuss recent currents in the field, including
technical challenges and cross professional collaborations
involved in conserving new media art.
12:00pm
- 2:00pm
BREAK
2:00pm
- 3:15 pm
IMAP Electronic Media Preservation Symposium: Conserving New Media Panel - Part II
Hosted by:
Independent Media Arts Preservation, Electronic Arts Intermix, and the
Independent Media Interest Group
Chair:
Glenn Wharton - Museum of Modern Art and NYU
Speakers:
Francis Hwang - Online Artist and Conservator
Jennifer McCoy - Media Artist
Kevin McCoy - Media Artist
Ann Butler - Fales Library and Special Collections, New York
University
Glenn Wharton - Museum of Modern Art and NYU
This panel
will address the challenges facing caretakers and creators
of new media art. Following a discussion of documenting electronic
media arts during the prior panel, the focus here will be
the complex decisions made to shepherd these works into the
future. During the first part of the session, media artists
Jennifer & Kevin McCoy and Francis Hwang will present
their video and Internet projects. During the second part
of the session, Glenn Wharton (conservator) and Ann Butler
(archivist) will interview the artists about their work to
provide case study analysis of conservation issues. The panelists
will then discuss recent currents in the field, including
technical challenges and cross professional collaborations
involved in conserving new media art.
3:15pm
- 3:30pm
BREAK
3:30
- 5:00 pm
IMAP Electronic Media Preservation Symposium: History of Video Art: New York Pioneers
Hosted by:
Independent Media Arts Preservation, Electronic Arts Intermix, and the
Independent Media Interest Group
Chair:
John Thomson - Electronic Arts Intermix
Speakers:
Sherry Miller-Hocking - Experimental Television Center
Debora Ryan - Everson Museum of Art
Carolyn Tennant - Hallwalls
John Thomson - Electronic Arts Intermix
Pioneering New York State non-profit media centers, museums,
and distributors will explore their roles in video history,
their collection and preservation programs, and their attempts
to make video art accessible. Sherry Miller-Hocking will discuss
the efforts of Experimental Television Center to give artists
access to specialized media instruments and to preserve related
ephemera, documentation, and video works. Debora Ryan of the
Everson Museum of Art will provide an overview of the history
of video art at the Museum, beginning in the early 1970s,
and of their historical video art collection dating from 1970-1985.
Carolyn Tennant will discuss Hallwalls' video archive and
their collaboration with the University at Buffalo's Poetry
and Rare Books Collection, where their archive now lives,
and the challenges of preserving this material. John Thomson
will outline Electronic Arts Intermix's leading international
role in the preservation and distribution of video art.
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
IMAP Electronic Media Preservation Symposium:
Screening: History of Video Art: New York Pioneers
Hosted by:
Independent Media Arts Preservation, Electronic Arts Intermix, and the
Independent Media Interest Group
Chair:
Jim Hubbard - Filmmaker and Independent Curator
New York
State hosted some of the earliest media activity in the nation.
The State's arts and cultural organizations house some of
the most extensive collections of early video art and community
television in the US. With the introduction of portable media
technology in the late 1960s, creative and community-minded
people worked alone and collectively to train and equip ordinary
citizens with the means of creating and distributing independent
programming. They explored video as an art medium and as a
tool for social and cultural change, producing documentaries,
narratives, conceptual, and image-processed work presented
on cable and television, in galleries and community venues.
This screening highlights some of that diverse early work,
including pieces by Steina and Woody Vasulka, Bill Viola,
Gary Hill, Videofreex, Philip Mallory Jones, and Portable
Channel.
Attention
Media Arts Organizations in New York State:
Some travel assistance is available to attend the IMAP Electronic
Media Preservation Symposium. Limited to non-profit media arts
organizations in New York State, applications can be made to
the Media Arts Technical Assistance Fund administered by the
Experimental TV Center supported by public funds from the Electronic
Media and Film Program of the New York State Council on the
Arts. Deadline for application is September 10. See application
guidelines at www.experimentaltvcenter.org.
