Tate Liverpool is currently showcasing the work of Nam June Paik, the Korean-born video artist and performer whose inventive use of technology is particularly relevant today.
“Paik’s significance cannot be more timely than now, when creating visual images is not limited to a small number of artists, but to anyone with a digital camera or a mobile phone,” says co-curator of the Tate show, Sook-Kyung Lee.
“He was a passionate provocateur of open communication and free public broadcasting, which are mostly realised in today’s internet environment.”
The exhibition, which been developed with the city’s Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (Fact) and runs until 13 March, is the first UK retrospective of Paik’s work.
The artist, who died in 2006, quickly seized on the possibilities of video during the 1960s to create eye-catching and iconic moving images such as Zen for TV, as well as going on to use the medium as part of installations such as TV Garden and TV Cello.
The work being done by many of today’s artists using digital technology is very different from Paik’s early video work, but some of the issues around conservation and display are similar.
The term new-media art refers to a diverse array of practices including video art, sound work, internet-based digital artwork, and work that combines digital processes with traditional analogue installations. It is sometimes referred to as time-based art, which can have aspects of performance and is often participatory.
Video art and sound works are now widely accepted as legitimate artistic practice. Susan Philipsz, for example, uses her own voice to create sound installations and won last year’s Turner Prize.
But these methods challenged mainstream artistic forms when they emerged during the 1950s and 1960s, as artists explored the aesthetic possibilities offered by new broadcast, communication and electronic technologies in the postwar era.
In the 1990s, technological advances, particularly the development of the internet, created new environments where ideas could be exchanged and artwork shared.
Many international art institutions have been working hard to document and collect new-media art. The Guggenheim’s Variable Media Initiative emerged from the organisation’s efforts to preserve its collection of conceptual, minimalist and video art.
The aim of this affiliation of museums, galleries and arts organisations is to build a network that will develop the tools, methods and standards needed to implement a preservation strategy for these types of works.
In the UK, Matters in Media Art is a multi-phase project designed to provide guidelines for the care of time-based media works of art. The New Art Trust created the consortium in 2003 and it features curators, conservators, registrars and media technical managers from Tate, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA).
Other UK centres of excellence include Gateshead’s Baltic and the north-west England triumvirate of Fact in Liverpool, the Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Preston and Folly, a digital arts organisation based in Lancaster that works across the region.
Some feel that new-media art is still underrepresented in museum collections and mainstream curatorial practice. There are various reasons for this, including the ephemeral nature of some work and the rapid obsolescence of hardware and software.
“One of the issues around new media art is the perception that it’s difficult to collect,” says Alex Walker, head of arts and heritage at Preston City Council and the Harris. “Software can go out of date; things like cathode-ray tube TVs are impossible to get nowadays.”
Cost is also a factor, as items such as projectors and high-end computers are expensive for museums and galleries to buy and maintain. Then there is the perception of digital art as lacking the validity and aesthetic merit of more traditional art forms. The participatory nature of some of this work can mean that it is difficult to recreate and display the work without losing some of the essence of its original meaning.
There are also conservation issues. “Televisions and other electronic equipment have a limited lifetime” explains Sook-Kyung Lee. “Repairing and conserving also becomes increasingly difficult as the knowledge and technical specialisms disappear over time.”
Meanwhile, with modern internet art, often referred to as net.art, part of the challenge is that it lives a life outside of the gallery walls, on smartphones and laptops. This may contribute to the perception that it is not worth exhibiting. The other problem is that when it is brought into the confines of an exhibition space, it can be mistaken for something else.
“One of the key problems is the confusion between educational technology and art,” explains Beryl Graham, an academic at the University of Sunderland, and co-editor of Crumb, a resource that aims to help artists and curators exhibit new media work. “For many years, galleries have adopted computers for the purpose of education, so it is very important to label it art.”
Graham says some net artists don’t want their work on display in a museum context at all. “It depends on the artist – some think it’s ok to have their work on a computer in a gallery, some don’t. There is a need to discuss with the artist how they want their work shown.”
Some museums and galleries, such as Fact, display and archive net.art on their websites. Fact’s CEO Mike Stubbs says there are issues relating to making sure links on sites are updated and dealing with changing software requirements. “It raises a debate as to how sustainable it is, and where it sits, when the assets are digital themselves,” he says.
Funding is also an issue. “These things are largely funded through short-term schemes, so that there are networks of net archives across Europe, but they’re short-lived,” says Stubbs. “These things are expensive to sustain, and not seen as a priority.”
One attempt to pull together research and spread best practice is the Current project. Sub-titled An Experiment in Collecting Digital Art, the scheme was initiated by the Harris, in association with Folly.
Current will begin with an exhibition of artists working in this area selected by a specialist panel, which will go on display at the Harris (25 March-4 June). This will be followed by a public debate in May to analyse the results, share findings, and set best practice guidelines on new-media art.
The process culminates in a second panel of experts (including Tate director Caroline Collier, and Contemporary Arts Society director Paul Hobson) selecting a piece that will be added to the Harris’s collection.
“There is an increasing trend for this art to migrate away from established institutions and gallery spaces, but it still needs to be collected, documented and recorded, even if it is outside that space,” explains Walker at the Harris.
Walker believes strongly in the validity of this form of art, and sees the piece they intend to select as an important part of the Harris’s programme of contemporary collecting.
“We’re not going to collect new-media work because of the novelty of the process, or the machinery,” Walker says. “The content of the work, and the connections it might make to our collection, or the meanings within that work are the ultimate goal.”
Abbas Ali is a freelance journalist
A Museums Association one-day conference on creating effective digital content is taking place on 15 March in London. Click here for more details
A network of organisations led by the Guggenheim that is developing tools, methods and standards to preserve the work of artists working in ephemeral media.
http://current-experiment.org.uk
Digital debate, with the Harris Museum & Art Gallery and Folly at the helm.
www.rhizome.org
Rhizome is dedicated to the creation, presentation, preservation and critique of emerging artistic practices that engage technology. Affiliated to New York’s New Museum.
www.tate.org.uk/research/tateresearch/majorprojects/mediamatters
A project to provide guidelines for the care of time-based media works of art.
http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/emg/index.html
A group of conservators within the American Institute for Conservation with interests in electronic media. Serves as a networking organisation and holds workshops and panel discussions on media preservation issues.
www.crumbweb.org
Crumb helps those who exhibit new-media art, including curators, technicians and artists.
www.folly.co.uk
A digital arts organisation working across England’s north west.
Tate created its time-based media conservation unit in 1996 and the section now has eight specialist conservators and technicians who are responsible for the needs of works incorporating film, video, sound, slide, audio, computer and performance elements.
We continue to grapple with the dual pressures of the obsolescence of older technologies, such as 35mm slides and cathode ray tube monitors, and the challenges presented by newer media such as software-based art.
The fast-moving nature of time-based media conservation makes it one of the most exciting areas of emerging conservation practice. These media are at the heart of some of the most important artworks of the past 50 years, and represent a significant part of all major contemporary art collections.
The international museum community is actively engaged in developing a conceptual framework within which it can respond to the conservation of these works, and is providing solutions to the practical challenges of developing the tools and knowledge needed.
In 2003 the New Art Trust created Matters In Media Art, an interdisciplinary consortium of museum professionals from within Tate, MoMA and SFMoMA. The aim was to share emerging practice through the publication of practical information on topics relating to time-based media art.
It is one of a number of international initiatives that are addressing issues related to the care and management of time-based media works of art.
Pip Laurenson is the head of collection care research at Tate
“Paik’s significance cannot be more timely than now, when creating visual images is not limited to a small number of artists, but to anyone with a digital camera or a mobile phone,” says co-curator of the Tate show, Sook-Kyung Lee.
“He was a passionate provocateur of open communication and free public broadcasting, which are mostly realised in today’s internet environment.”
The exhibition, which been developed with the city’s Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (Fact) and runs until 13 March, is the first UK retrospective of Paik’s work.
The artist, who died in 2006, quickly seized on the possibilities of video during the 1960s to create eye-catching and iconic moving images such as Zen for TV, as well as going on to use the medium as part of installations such as TV Garden and TV Cello.
The work being done by many of today’s artists using digital technology is very different from Paik’s early video work, but some of the issues around conservation and display are similar.
The term new-media art refers to a diverse array of practices including video art, sound work, internet-based digital artwork, and work that combines digital processes with traditional analogue installations. It is sometimes referred to as time-based art, which can have aspects of performance and is often participatory.
Video art and sound works are now widely accepted as legitimate artistic practice. Susan Philipsz, for example, uses her own voice to create sound installations and won last year’s Turner Prize.
But these methods challenged mainstream artistic forms when they emerged during the 1950s and 1960s, as artists explored the aesthetic possibilities offered by new broadcast, communication and electronic technologies in the postwar era.
In the 1990s, technological advances, particularly the development of the internet, created new environments where ideas could be exchanged and artwork shared.
Many international art institutions have been working hard to document and collect new-media art. The Guggenheim’s Variable Media Initiative emerged from the organisation’s efforts to preserve its collection of conceptual, minimalist and video art.
The aim of this affiliation of museums, galleries and arts organisations is to build a network that will develop the tools, methods and standards needed to implement a preservation strategy for these types of works.
In the UK, Matters in Media Art is a multi-phase project designed to provide guidelines for the care of time-based media works of art. The New Art Trust created the consortium in 2003 and it features curators, conservators, registrars and media technical managers from Tate, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA).
Other UK centres of excellence include Gateshead’s Baltic and the north-west England triumvirate of Fact in Liverpool, the Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Preston and Folly, a digital arts organisation based in Lancaster that works across the region.
Some feel that new-media art is still underrepresented in museum collections and mainstream curatorial practice. There are various reasons for this, including the ephemeral nature of some work and the rapid obsolescence of hardware and software.
“One of the issues around new media art is the perception that it’s difficult to collect,” says Alex Walker, head of arts and heritage at Preston City Council and the Harris. “Software can go out of date; things like cathode-ray tube TVs are impossible to get nowadays.”
Cost is also a factor, as items such as projectors and high-end computers are expensive for museums and galleries to buy and maintain. Then there is the perception of digital art as lacking the validity and aesthetic merit of more traditional art forms. The participatory nature of some of this work can mean that it is difficult to recreate and display the work without losing some of the essence of its original meaning.
There are also conservation issues. “Televisions and other electronic equipment have a limited lifetime” explains Sook-Kyung Lee. “Repairing and conserving also becomes increasingly difficult as the knowledge and technical specialisms disappear over time.”
Meanwhile, with modern internet art, often referred to as net.art, part of the challenge is that it lives a life outside of the gallery walls, on smartphones and laptops. This may contribute to the perception that it is not worth exhibiting. The other problem is that when it is brought into the confines of an exhibition space, it can be mistaken for something else.
“One of the key problems is the confusion between educational technology and art,” explains Beryl Graham, an academic at the University of Sunderland, and co-editor of Crumb, a resource that aims to help artists and curators exhibit new media work. “For many years, galleries have adopted computers for the purpose of education, so it is very important to label it art.”
Graham says some net artists don’t want their work on display in a museum context at all. “It depends on the artist – some think it’s ok to have their work on a computer in a gallery, some don’t. There is a need to discuss with the artist how they want their work shown.”
Some museums and galleries, such as Fact, display and archive net.art on their websites. Fact’s CEO Mike Stubbs says there are issues relating to making sure links on sites are updated and dealing with changing software requirements. “It raises a debate as to how sustainable it is, and where it sits, when the assets are digital themselves,” he says.
Funding is also an issue. “These things are largely funded through short-term schemes, so that there are networks of net archives across Europe, but they’re short-lived,” says Stubbs. “These things are expensive to sustain, and not seen as a priority.”
One attempt to pull together research and spread best practice is the Current project. Sub-titled An Experiment in Collecting Digital Art, the scheme was initiated by the Harris, in association with Folly.
Current will begin with an exhibition of artists working in this area selected by a specialist panel, which will go on display at the Harris (25 March-4 June). This will be followed by a public debate in May to analyse the results, share findings, and set best practice guidelines on new-media art.
The process culminates in a second panel of experts (including Tate director Caroline Collier, and Contemporary Arts Society director Paul Hobson) selecting a piece that will be added to the Harris’s collection.
“There is an increasing trend for this art to migrate away from established institutions and gallery spaces, but it still needs to be collected, documented and recorded, even if it is outside that space,” explains Walker at the Harris.
Walker believes strongly in the validity of this form of art, and sees the piece they intend to select as an important part of the Harris’s programme of contemporary collecting.
“We’re not going to collect new-media work because of the novelty of the process, or the machinery,” Walker says. “The content of the work, and the connections it might make to our collection, or the meanings within that work are the ultimate goal.”
Abbas Ali is a freelance journalist
A Museums Association one-day conference on creating effective digital content is taking place on 15 March in London. Click here for more details
Sharing the knowledge
www.variablemedia.net A network of organisations led by the Guggenheim that is developing tools, methods and standards to preserve the work of artists working in ephemeral media.
http://current-experiment.org.uk
Digital debate, with the Harris Museum & Art Gallery and Folly at the helm.
www.rhizome.org
Rhizome is dedicated to the creation, presentation, preservation and critique of emerging artistic practices that engage technology. Affiliated to New York’s New Museum.
www.tate.org.uk/research/tateresearch/majorprojects/mediamatters
A project to provide guidelines for the care of time-based media works of art.
http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/emg/index.html
A group of conservators within the American Institute for Conservation with interests in electronic media. Serves as a networking organisation and holds workshops and panel discussions on media preservation issues.
www.crumbweb.org
Crumb helps those who exhibit new-media art, including curators, technicians and artists.
www.folly.co.uk
A digital arts organisation working across England’s north west.
The challenge to keep new-media art switched on
Tate created its time-based media conservation unit in 1996 and the section now has eight specialist conservators and technicians who are responsible for the needs of works incorporating film, video, sound, slide, audio, computer and performance elements.
We continue to grapple with the dual pressures of the obsolescence of older technologies, such as 35mm slides and cathode ray tube monitors, and the challenges presented by newer media such as software-based art.
The fast-moving nature of time-based media conservation makes it one of the most exciting areas of emerging conservation practice. These media are at the heart of some of the most important artworks of the past 50 years, and represent a significant part of all major contemporary art collections.
The international museum community is actively engaged in developing a conceptual framework within which it can respond to the conservation of these works, and is providing solutions to the practical challenges of developing the tools and knowledge needed.
In 2003 the New Art Trust created Matters In Media Art, an interdisciplinary consortium of museum professionals from within Tate, MoMA and SFMoMA. The aim was to share emerging practice through the publication of practical information on topics relating to time-based media art.
It is one of a number of international initiatives that are addressing issues related to the care and management of time-based media works of art.
Pip Laurenson is the head of collection care research at Tate