When preserving old “New Media”, the conservator and the equipment are equally essential

In the article, “Preserving That Great Performance”, published in the August 12, 2013 issue of The New York Times, Melena Ryzik writes about the New Museum’s XFR STN (Transfer Station) project which gives any and all artists the opportunity to have their works which now live on floppy disks, videocassettes and the like, digitized and brought back to life. While most of the project budget will be spent on the salaries of people who know how to work with obsolete equipment, the New Museum expended a great deal of effort acquiring that equipment as conservation technicians and machines are equally essential.