New Strategies in Conservation

The impact of conservation on site-specific works of art

Introduction

Many works of art are 'site-specific' because they have a significant relationship with the spatial, physical environment for which they were created. In contemporary art, examples of literal site-specific works of art can be found in artists' installations, art in public space, occasional exhibitions such as biennials or documenta, and so on. There are also other ways in which artworks can be defined by site, for example in happenings and performances in which spatial and temporal coordinates are significant for the encounter in actual space between the work and the viewer.  Or site may be interpreted as the cultural and/or institutional framework enveloping the work of art, or as a 'field of knowledge' in the case of a discursively determined 'site'. In short, the term site-specificity is multi-layered and poly interpretable.

This research project aims to examine the needs regarding conservation and presentation of site-specific works: first of all, which characteristics are relevant for site-specific works? And secondly, what does it imply to conserve and present site-specific works in different contexts? What impact do re-installations have on the continuation of a work when it is migrated (and thus re-contextualised) from one site into another? What are the effects of experiencing site-specific works on different audiences in different contexts?

For contemporary art, the various 'types' of site-specificity as above can be important features for  identifying the work and in various ways these aspects will have impact on the conservation and presentation strategies applied to them. Historically, the 'movement' of site-specific art is situated in the 1960-70s (Kwon, 2000) as in this decade on a large scale works were made to suit the place in which they were installed. The perception of those - often critical - works was inextricably bound to the original location and time. Accordingly, those works 'could not be moved without being destroyed' as, for example, Robert Barry and Richard Serra stated for their commissioned works in the period 1960-1990. Over the years, however, art practices have changed: works that were once site-bound have been made transferable and new conceptions of 'site-specificity' have emerged, which do not define works purely in terms of their actual physical location.

Although in this project a typology of 'site-specificity' (as e.g. developed by Kwon) will serve as a starting point for a reflexive study on what characterisations can be given to 'site', the broader aim is to gain insight into the effects of migration and re-contextualisation for the continuation (conservation and presentation) of contemporary works of art. This may eventually lead to the use of a different typology in this study, or even a completely different notion, instead of 'site-specificity'.

Research question

This project asks: What are the effects on the biography of works of art when they are migrated from one context to another? How does migration influence the physical and conceptual characteristics of the work? And how do migration and re-contextualization influence the needs for conservation and re-installation, not only regarding the replacement of one physical location for another, but, in view of our present-day globalized world, also in relation to migration and travelling of artists themselves and of the (changing) way the artwork is experienced by diverse audiences? To what extent is 'change' acceptable, desirable, or just unwelcome for works that are largely defined by 'site'? How 'flexible' are site-specific characterisations with regard to interventions that depend on circumstances of context(s) in the future? To what extent can a work be reconfigured by change of site (and still be the same artwork)?

These are challenging questions for conservators, curators and collection managers as interventions may contravene with the intended meaning of the works. An underlying question in this respect is how determined or flexible 'meaning' is interpreted and what the influence is of different stakeholders in this process of interpretation. In decision-making processes context-related aspects are not always taken into account and, although for ethnographical collections theory is well-developed at this point, these aspects have not been comprehensively addressed in relation to the conservation of contemporary art as yet.

Content

The questions of this project will be researched by means of a preliminary set of six case studies. Each case study entails its own theoretical and reflexive framework and, hypothetically, will represent one of the types of Miwon Kwon's typology for 'site-specificity'. Each case, furthermore, will focus on the biography of the work (especially on significant moments such as creation, or when it enters a museum collection, is put on loan and/or re-installed again) by means of art historical research, archival and literature search, as well a series of  interviews with stakeholders, such as collection managers, museum directors, curators, conservators, gallerists and, where possible, the artist (in short, all those 'responsible' for, or having influence on, the interpretation, conservation and presentation of the works).

The six cases studies are considered to be exemplary for three conservation and presentation strategies that are applied in museum practice and which are especially relevant regarding migration of contemporary art into different contexts (see for the strategies and cases further below). For each strategy a comparative study will be carried out between (at least) two works of art. Based on the biographical research conservation and presentation needs as well as the concepts of these three strategies will be 'defined'. Although the six case studies will be main examples for the strategies, comparisons with other works of art will be made where applicable. In addition, a set of general guidelines (in the form of a vocabulary and checklist) will be developed as a complementary practical-instrumental part for the custodianship of site-specific works of art.

 Strategies and case studies

• Strategy 1: Re-installation for works that stay more or less the same in spite of the fact that they are moved from one (original) location to another. Case studies: Seagram Murals (1958) by Mark Rothko (Tate); Die Toilette (1992) by Ilya Kabakov (S.M.A.K.).

In 1958, the Seagram Murals were commissioned to Rothko to cover the walls of the Four Season's restaurant in New York. The commission was never completed and 12 years later Rothko donated part of the murals to Tate on the condition they would be installed permanently in the gallery. Other murals were spread over various collections. Recently, 14 murals were rejoined in an exhibition at Tate Modern and Tate Liverpool. The paintings were provided with a context of their history, Rothko's intentions and artistic practice as well as scientific and conservation research. What does it mean if a work has not been realized as site-specific in the past but, instead, becomes 'site specific' within a museum context? Although at first sight a comparison with Ilya Kabakov's Die Toilette doesn't seem obvious, this case study will do just that - with special focus on the painterly and phenomenological aspects of the installation in relation to the social and institutional references to site-specificity (a comparison which can also be made for Rothko's murals).

• Strategy 2: Re-execution or Remaking for works that at least physically change when shown at different locations, as they have to be completely re-executed or re-made. Notion Motion (2005) by Olafur Eliasson (M. Boijmans van Beuningen) and Inflight (2000) by Johan Grimonprez (S.M.A.K.)

For both case studies - one consisting of several rooms in which the viewer incites a sophisticated spectacle of vibrations of light by walking over wooden panels which touch upon reservoirs of water - the other a comfortable 'airport lounge' in which visitors can play around. With each new installation these works will change completely. Questions e.g. are about the authority of re-executing the works. What is the role of the artist and assistants (in transferring their ideas and artistic practice) and how are other stakeholders (like technicians, conservators, curators, director) involved in the process of re-execution? What is the role of documentation?

• Strategy 3: Transformation for works that are subject to 'permanent' change because (one or more) significant features change - e,g. unfinished projects, installations intended to change and/or works including performance. Drifting producers (2005) by Flying City (Van Abbemuseum) and Terra degli dei madre (1984) by Ulay & Abramovic (Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam).

In both cases the works resulted from a project (and moved from a non-art to an art context) which in the case of Drifting Producers is even not finished as yet. While interrelating social engagement with an art context both works question the art world while at the same time they participate in it. Both works consist of many heterogeneous parts such as video, powerpoint, digital drawings, or film on the one hand and theatrical props and physical objects on the other hand; both works raise questions on (material) authenticity on the one hand and reproducibility and performance on the other. In such complex, transformable works what are the relationships between different parts, versions and mediums of the work, and what does it mean to continue the biography of an unfinished work?

Biographies of the case studies will be drawn up and decisive moments will be highlighted, for example, the moment a work enters a museum collection, and its future instances when influential decisions are being taken. At these instances a 'general' museum's policy and prevailing values will become evident. Sometimes underlying values may be in conflict with earlier or later moments in the work's biography. The case studies will thus be at the intersection of individual biographies and museum policies and value assessments by museums (incorporated in the case studies) throughout time.

'To interpret is to change and to preserve. That an object is preserved does not show that the work of art survives.' (David Carrier, Museum Skepticism, 2006)