Sam Bogner

Archiving for Artists

Abstract:

Emerging artists are a unique group of individuals who are grappling with the ever changing culture of the digital world, particularly through the use of web-based media.
It is not always easy to convince artists of adding another level of security to their materials. If it is too involved or complicated of a process, they tend to put it on the back-burner of their practice.
Providing sustainable solutions that will ensure longevity of materials at a minimal cost is imperative

Solutions must be straightforward and minimally intrusive to their existing workflows, whether formal or informal.
Emerging artists can approach documenting their practice through personal archiving tasks, with consideration to their unique needs.

For this project, I am considering the artist’s record of their practice, in an attempt to safeguard the trajectory of their work for posterity, authentication, and tracking of artistic growth. In case of disaster or damage, a digital record of the practice will remain. Although we do not wish to think of situations where an artwork or studio has been damaged in some way, there are unexpected circumstances when we need to look back on whatever records we have left in order to determine how we can best move forward.

Emerging artists, particularly recent graduates of fine arts programs, grapple with endless possibilities for media exploration. This group has particular needs as digital media is ingrained in their education. Trends in fine arts education allow for a broader range of materials and conceptual realms of understanding. A large portion of work being made is no longer channeled through the art market because of its time-based, installation and ephemeral nature. Many undergraduate fine arts programs teach their students how to document their work through photography, video, or sound recordings. They also consider the archival quality of papers, inks and other conservation issues, however the range of media is practically infinite. Through my research, I have outlined approaches to the problems young artists face, particularly concerning obsolescence, and social media.

Project Summary:

Preserving digital content for artists through engaging and building their personal archives
Providing low-cost or free tools and guidelines for this group to meet archival needs without inhibiting their studio practice.
Documenting their process
Outline solutions for long-term tracking of their changing practice
Keeping them updated with changes in the digital resources they regularly use and migrating old files.

Consider their work long-term, ask them questions such as; How do you see the impact of your work 5, 10, 50 years from now? Do you believe your work should exist for a small amount of time, or do you wish to see it live beyond your earthly existence? Who is your audience and how can you reach them through new and evolving technologies?

There are many tools available that are low cost and easy to learn that can help artists achieve a basic level of preservation standards. One on one aid from a trained archivist, combined with an outline of solutions and trouble-shooting, can curtail the learning curve of preservation knowledge. [For a sample of these tools, see images below]

Long term goals:

The creation of a discovery system that connects separate studio archives making them available for scholarly research in art
Creation of metadata to support artistic scholarly research including disparate media, inspirational materials, and other context-providing ephemera
Creating a service geared toward the longevity of digital artist archives

With every new medium, new protocols for how archivists handle unique items are created. The creative process is difficult to preserve and often involves a large web of information. The unique relationship between this population and the broader art-world is not firmly established in the information science perspective. The process of archiving an artist’s oeuvre falls on an expanding spectrum, from simple tools to complex estate planning. As an appeal to emerging artists, focusing on attainable means of authenticating work without highly technical vocabulary is an entry-way to creating a broader connection to the art-research world. This trajectory will also involve the curation of these materials in a way that is useful for research. Integrated metadata for visually based mediums creates potential solutions for vocabularies suited to non-traditional artistic materials and conceptual content.

Connections to outreach:

Collaboration with a trained archivist
Using web-based and low cost applications
Best practices simplified for non-information professionals
Using social media to share the benefits of adding archiving tasks to an artistic practice

To continue the conversation, feel free to contact me

via twitter @sam_bogner_
via email sam.bogner.art@gmail.com

or visit www.samanthabogner.com

ArchiveReady.com is a free resource developed by Vangelis Banos and Yannis Manolopoulos. Based on the CLEAR method, the checks cover a variety of potential hazards, particularly relevant to many artist sites involving interactivity and visual media.

Using Archive Ready, artists can determine how well their websites will record. It also pinpoints problem areas and offers a solution to increase its archival rating.

Webrecorder by Rhizome was developed by an innovative group of technology professionals in collaboration with net-artists and supporters of the New Museum, an institution whose mission surrounds broad interpretations of media. It is a free tool and is an easy way to web-archive.

Online-only galleries and experimental net-art sites with interactive aspects, hyperlinks, and other unstable devices can be captured via Webrecorder. In this example, Big Toe Gallery features a different artist-in-residence every few months. It is imperative that the site be recorded often to preserve the changing work. Webrecorder makes this task easy.