Many factors are contributing to an overall paradigm shift in the decision-making processes inthe preservation of contemporary art. Artists’ incorporation of ephemeral or non-conventionalmaterials into their artwork is not uncommon, and the presence of food, live animals, and variouselectrical components are increasingly encountered. Such is the case of the cabbages, live snails,and electric oscillating fan in the work Palimpsest by Ann Hamilton (fig. 1). Concurrently, artistswho choose to work with more traditional art materials often employ them in unconventionalformats, such as the Prussian blue pigment that is applied, highly under-bound, over the entiresurface of the oversized sculpture At the Hub of Things by Anish Kapoor (
Video documentation is also becoming regarded as a helpful tool in the preservation of installation art, both in terms of recording the process but also as a means of capturing the overall intended experience of viewing the artwork which is particularly useful for time-based works. The on-line tutorial Guidelines for Video Documentation of Installations put out by the participants of the Inside Installations Project (2007) is one example of how conservators are attempting to address the need for standards to be developed for this type of documentation, just as the means for photo-documentation of the material aspects of art have been standardized within our profession. Inspired by these studies, but falling short on resources and skills, the Collections Care staff at the Hirshhorn have often collaborated with the museums Ryan
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AIC Objects Specialty Group Postprints, Vol. 18, 2011 Communications and Education Departments, teams better suited for the function with the skill sets and the equipment and also with the desire to capture the installation process of the permanent collection for their own purposes. However, one may predict that the demand for videography capture and editing skills will only increase within the contemporary art community in the future. 4. ACQUISITION OF CONTEMPORARY ART
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In recent years at the Hirshhorn, the processes around the acquisition of contemporary art have been evolving with an increased degree of input from the Collection Management department, consisting of Conservation and Registration Departments, with an emphasis on establishing the preservation parameters of the artwork in the very early stages of discussions. Curators, registrars, conservators, and exhibition staff work together as a team, first contributing to a collaborative internal pre-acquisition summary. Once the decision is made to acquire a particular artwork, this collaboration is continued in the development of the acquisition contract itself. While full access to the artwork and the artist by the conservators prior to the acquisition is common practice for the acquisition of artworks at many institutions, it becomes imperative with contemporary artworks. The ability to gain a sufficient level of familiarity with the artwork and the artists goals for its preservation cannot be
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The development of appropriate preservation-related language within the contract is becoming accepted as an essential step in any acquisition as often the long-term preservation and maintenance of a contemporary artwork is largely dependent upon the involvement of the estate or a designated third party. In addition, the resources required for continued display and maintenance of an artwork can far exceed what is immediately evident. As a result, increased concentration is being placed on outlining from the start what the overall resources may be in caring for the work into the future and on clarifying the various roles and responsibilities of the museum and the estate in the care and maintenance of the artwork. For example, in the recent acquisition of three separate and distinctly different
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