Hi all--some late-summer responses to the theme of collecting interactive art:
* On acquisition policies for variable media works
Thanks to George for asking the right questions about GoMA's acquisition of his work, and to Lucas for a nod to the Variable Media Network (and his own astute recommendations). A few additional suggestions:
1. Go ahead and complete the Variable Media Questionnaire, preferably alongside a staffmember (conservator, registrar, or curator) from GoMA. Think of it less as a multiple-choice test than as a point of departure for interesting conversations, which you can summarize in the notes.
Beryl may be reassured to learn that the newest version of the Questionnaire casts a net far beyond the artist to register opinions on a work's future; studio assistants and conservators can weigh in with an opinion, and even random gallerygoers who saw the work.
BTW I'm happy to talk you (and anyone else on this list) through using the Questionnaire (http://variablemediaquestionnaire.net/); our latest release should be compatible with Chrome and Safari, though as you say Firefox is always best.
2. Get GoMA's legal eagles to write into your acquisition contract a requirement to abide by your variable media guidelines, as embodied in your interview.
3. Suggest that GoMA take 15 percent or more of the purchase price and put it in a variable media endowment. The interest from that endowment over time is meant to build up and supply a fund to pay for programmers or new equipment to re-create your work in the future. (It works better if this is a policy across multiple acquisitions, so there's enough cash in the endowment actually to re-create one of the works when necessary.)
4. Strongly consider giving GoMA copies of your source code (presumably objective-c) and video masters (presumably DV). If you won't, consider giving it to a third-party code escrow, comparable to the practice in commercial software development, whereby an artist would agree to let the museum have its paws on the code once it is no longer of (commercial) use to the artist.
5. Consider writing a clause into the acquisition contract asking the museum to return the work to you or your estate if it's no longer technically and financially feasible for the museum to re-create it. This is a risky gambit--you don't want to make it easy for the museum to de-accession your work--but it does make sense for certain works that are supposed to be publicly accessible at all times, like Mark Napier's net.flag. ("If you can't take care of this puppy, back he goes!")
* On ghetto blasting
A stuffy Pompidou curator told me that an (even stuffier) art star told her he would never be in a show with "media" as a theme. So Steve Dietz is right, let's drop "media" as a theme and cozy up to art world insiders, hopefully persuading them to shrug off their elitism at the same time. (Steve's curated about ten times as many shows as I have, so he should know.)
Speaking of the Art World and App Store, I think Steve will appreciate the fact that net artist-turned-appmaker Lia's fetching new Sum05 iPhone app looks a lot like his 1998 Beyond Interface logo!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sum05/id544376100?mt=8
http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw98/beyond_interface
At the same time, I agree with Roger Malina that "curating" is no longer the province of art or even museums. I've recently learned this the hard way while crafting an online digital curation curriculum to accommodate scientists and government officials, not to mention Pinterest peeps and Tumblr types. More on this shift in curatorial focus here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/UMaineDigCuration/videos
Roger, I'd love to hear if you have any best-of-breed resources for data curation and citizen science.
* On collecting performance
I'd be curious about Johannes Birringer's take on the new Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, which adds a layer of copyright-like protection to audiovisual performers (actors, musicians, dancers).
At first I thought this new legal restriction might have a silver lining in supporting the precarious life of the performing artist. Unfortunately, the EFF looked under the hood and saw that performers' rights can be transferred to the producers. Same old same old?
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/beijing-treaty-audiovisual-performances
* On embalming Grampa
I loved Domenico's comment about how best to "preserve" the memory of loved ones. Richard Rinehart and I appraise the new market for personal data cemetaries in our forthcoming book Re-collection. To me, paying an Internet service to archive Facebook posts is like paying the Hindenberg to follow the Titanic around in case it sinks.
Cheers,
jon
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