Applying conservation ethics to the examination and treatment of software- and computer-based art

ABSTRACT

As part of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s ongoing initiative Conserving Computer-based Art (CCBA) and the collaborative research between the museum and the Department of Computer Science of New York University’s Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Guggenheim media art conservators and NYU computer scientists have collaborated since 2014 to examine, document, and treat software- and computer-based artworks from the Guggenheim collection. Based on this interdisciplinary work and guided by the objective to inform the care for computer-based art within the field of contemporary art conservation, the authors propose new examination, documentation, and treatment practices for software- and computer-based art that accommodate established conservation ethics and practice guidelines.

RÉSUMÉ

Dans le cadre de l’initiative en cours du Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum intitulée « Conserving Computer-based ART (CCBA) » et de la recherche collaborative entre le musée et le Département de sciences informatiques du Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences de la New York University (NYU), les restaurateurs d’art médiatique du Guggenheim et les informaticiens de la NYU ont collaboré depuis 2014 pour examiner, documenter, et traiter des œuvres d’art numérique et d’art logiciel dans la collection du Guggenheim. Basées sur ce projet interdisciplinaire et guidées par l’objectif d’informer sur le soin des œuvres d’art numérique dans le domaine de la conservation - restauration de l’art contemporain, les auteures proposent de nouvelles méthodes d’examen, de documentation, et de traitement pour les œuvres d’art numérique qui respectent les normes d’éthique et de pratique en conservation. Traduit par Eric Henderson.

RESUMO

Como parte da iniciativa contínua do Conserving Computer-based Art - CCBA (Conservação de obras de arte digitais) do Museu Solomon R. Guggenheim e a pesquisa colaborativa entre o museu e o Departamento de Ciências da Computação do Instituto Courant para Ciências Matemáticas da Universidade de Nova York, conservadores de arte e mídia do Guggenheim e cientistas da computação da NYU colaboram desde 2014 para examinar, documentar e tratar obras de arte digitais baseadas em softwares e computadores da coleção Guggenheim. Com base nesse trabalho interdisciplinar e orientado pelo objetivo de informar o cuidado com a arte digital no campo da conservação da arte contemporânea, os autores propõem novas práticas de exame, documentação e tratamento da arte criada com uso de software e computadores que acomodam as diretrizes praticadas e a ética estabelecida na conservação. Traduzido por Millar Schisler.

RESUMEN

Como parte de la iniciativa en curso Conservación del arte creado en computadora (CCBA – siglas del nombre en inglés Conserving Computer-based Art) del Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum y la investigación colaborativa entre el museo y el Departamento de Ciencias de la Computación del Instituto Courant de Ciencias Matemáticas de la Universidad de Nueva York, los conservadores de arte de medios del Guggenheim y los científicos de informática de la NYU han colaborado desde 2014 para examinar, documentar y tratar obras de arte basadas en software y computadoras de la colección Guggenheim. Apoyados en este trabajo interdisciplinario y guiados por el objetivo de informar el cuidado del arte creado en computadora dentro del campo de la conservación del arte contemporáneo, los autores proponen nuevos exámenes, documentación y prácticas de tratamiento para el arte basado en software y computadora que se adapten a las pautas y ética de conservación establecidas. Traducción: Amparo Rueda.

KEYWORDS:

• Software-based art
• computer-based art
• conservation ethics
• time-based media conservation
• media conservation
• source code analysis

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the artists Paul Chan, Siebren Versteeg, and Shu Lea Cheang for their support of this research. Further thanks go out to all current and former supporters of and contributors to the CCBA initiative and Guggenheim-NYU research collaboration since 2014: At the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum we would like to thank Lena Stringari, Deputy Director and Chief Conservator; Jonathan Farbowitz, Fellow for the Conservation of Computer-based Art; Alexandra Nichols, former Kress Fellow for Time-based Media Conservation; Brian Castriota, former Samuel H. Kress Fellow in Time-based Media Conservation; Amy Brost, former Andrew W. Mellon Graduate Intern for Time-based Media Conservation; Lia Kramer, former Polonsky Intern for Digital Humanities, and Jiwon Shin, former summer intern for Time-based Media Conservation.

At New York University’s Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, particular thanks go to the computer science students and graduates who contributed to the source code analysis, treatment prototyping and treatment of Guggenheim collection works: Jiwon Shin, Aarti Chandrakant Bagul, Shan Shao, Jiwon Shin, Michelle Liu, Vivian Peng, Emily Hua, Caroline Slason, Mia Matthias, Emma Dickson, Jillian Zhong, Kaitlin Gu, Justin Pak, Karl Toby Rosenberg, Yonatan Medina, Alejandra Trejo Rodriguez, Emily Fong, and Xincheng Huang.

The CCBA initiative at the Guggenheim would not be possible without the generous support by the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, Christie's, and Josh Elkes.

We would further like to thank our colleagues who took time to review this publication: Professors Ernest Davis and Craig Kapp, Department of Computer Science, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University; Prof. Glenn Wharton, Department of Museum Studies, New York University; Lena Stringari and Jeffrey Warda, Conservation Department, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and Agathe Jarczyk, Department of Conservation-Restoration, Bern University of the Arts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Deena Engel is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University as well as the Director of the Program in Digital Humanities and Social Science. She teaches undergraduate computer science courses on web and database technologies, as well as courses for undergraduate and graduate students in the Digital Humanities and the Arts. She also supervises undergraduate and graduate student research projects in the Digital Humanities and the Arts, and collaborates on research on the conservation of software-based art. She received her master’s degree in comparative literature from SUNY-Binghamton and her master’s degree in computer science from the Courant Institute of Mathematics at New York University, NY, USA.

Joanna Phillips is the Senior Conservator of Time-based Media at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, where she founded the media art conservation lab in 2008. At the Guggenheim, Phillips has developed and implemented new strategies for the preservation, reinstallation, and documentation of time-based media works. Phillips publishes and lectures on this topic internationally. She founded and heads the Guggenheim’s ongoing initiative Conserving Computer-based Art (CCBA) and is a founding co-organizer and multiple host of the EMG conference series TechFocus. Phillips also co-organized the international symposium “Collecting and Conserving Performance Art” in Germany. Prior to her Guggenheim appointment, Phillips specialized in the conservation of contemporary art at the Swiss Institute for Art Research in Zürich and explored the challenges of media art conservation as a research conservator in the Swiss project “AktiveArchive.” Phillips holds a master’s degree in paintings conservation from the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste in Dresden, Germany.

ORCID

Deena Engel https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2703-3075

Joanna Phillips http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2923-8827