{"id":288,"date":"2025-04-09T03:26:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T03:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/?page_id=288"},"modified":"2026-03-21T01:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T01:44:21","slug":"fluid-dynamics-installing-and-maintaining-michael-stevensons-the-fountain-of-prosperity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/fluid-dynamics-installing-and-maintaining-michael-stevensons-the-fountain-of-prosperity\/","title":{"rendered":"Fluid Dynamics: Installing and Maintaining Michael Stevenson\u2019s The Fountain of Prosperity<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n

Fluid Dynamics: Installing and Maintaining Michael Stevenson\u2019s The Fountain of Prosperity<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Soon Kai Poh, Andy Wolf, and Lynda Zycherman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary Art Review, Volume 3 (2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Download Article (PDF, 12MB)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Din\u00e1mica de fluidos: instalaci\u00f3n y mantenimiento de la escultura La fuente de la prosperidad<\/em>, de Michael Stevenson<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Soon Kai Poh, Andy Wolf, and Lynda Zycherman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary Art Review, Volumen 3 (2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
DESCARGAR ART\u00cdCULO (PDF, 12MB)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Keywords<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

contemporary art, hydrokinetic sculpture, artist interview, installation, maintenance, precarity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The Fountain of Prosperity<\/em>, a water-driven kinetic sculpture by Michael Stevenson, was prepared for a Spring 2023 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA). The artwork features a re-creation of a MONIAC, an analog hydro-mechanical computer designed in 1949. Michael Stevenson\u2019s re-creation from 2006 is a degraded version of the computer that functions in a severely limited capacity and exists in an intentional state of partial ruin, a condition that had been prolonged through regular repair by the artist and a succession of caretakers. MoMA conservators needed to balance the conceptual needs of the artwork with its safe display and operation, collaborating with the artist to craft practical solutions to alter the display and maintenance protocols. Although conversations with Stevenson around the intentionally degraded state of the work revealed that he was flexible with interventive options needed to maintain operation, conservators at first opted for a minimal treatment strategy, preferen\u00adtially modifying the context surrounding the artwork, rather than the work itself. Though this strategy was initially effective, the sculpture\u2019s performance over the extended five-month display ultimately demonstrated its unpredictability and precarity, and more interven\u00adtive treatment methods were implemented in situ alongside supplemental video documentation. The future preservation of the sculpture will ultimately be triangulated through understanding Stevenson\u2019s evolv\u00ading intentionality, the sculpture\u2019s relationship to the original MONIAC machines as a proxy, and the realities of material degradation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
Palabras Clave<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

arte contempor\u00e1neo, escultura hidrocin\u00e9\u00adtica, entrevista al artista, instalaci\u00f3n, mantenimiento, precariedad<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resumen<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

La escultura cin\u00e9tica (con movimiento) impulsada por agua y titulada La fuente de la prosperidad<\/em>, del artista Michael Stevenson, fue acondicionada para su exhibici\u00f3n en el Museo de Arte Moderno de Nueva York (MoMA), en la primavera del 2023. Esta obra presenta una recreaci\u00f3n de un MONIAC, un computador hidro\u00admec\u00e1nico anal\u00f3gico, dise\u00f1ado en 1949. Esta recreaci\u00f3n realizada por el artista en el a\u00f1o 2006 es una versi\u00f3n de un computador que funciona con una capacidad muy limitada y en un estado intencional de ruina parcial, una condici\u00f3n que ha sido prolongada a trav\u00e9s de reparacio\u00adnes peri\u00f3dicas por el artista y de una serie de cuidadores. Los conservadores del MoMA tuvieron que conseguir un equilibrio entre las necesidades conceptuales de la obra, su exhibici\u00f3n segura y funcionamiento, colaborando con el artista para crear soluciones pr\u00e1cticas para alterar su exhibici\u00f3n y protocolos de mantenimiento. A pesar de que a trav\u00e9s de conversaciones con Stevenson acerca del estado intencional de degradaci\u00f3n de la obra donde \u00e9l rev\u00adel\u00f3 su flexibilidad hacia opciones de intervenci\u00f3n necesar\u00adias para mantener su funcionamiento, los conservadores optaron inicialmente por una estrategia de tratamiento m\u00ednimo, modificando preferencialmente el contexto que rodeaba la obra, en lugar de la obra en s\u00ed. A pesar de que inicialmente esta estrategia fue efectiva, el funciona\u00admiento de la obra m\u00e1s all\u00e1 de su exhibici\u00f3n durante cinco meses demostr\u00f3 en \u00faltima instancia su imprevisibilidad y precariedad, por lo que m\u00e9todos de tratamientos de mayor intervenci\u00f3n se implementaron in situ con documentaci\u00f3n complementaria con videograbaci\u00f3n. Al final, la futura preservaci\u00f3n de la escultura ser\u00e1 triangulada a trav\u00e9s del entendimiento de la intencionalidad evolutiva de Steven\u00adson, la relaci\u00f3n de la escultura con las m\u00e1quinas MONIAC originales a manera de sustitutos, y las realidades de la degradaci\u00f3n de los materiales.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
Citation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Poh, Soon Kai, Andy Wolf, and Lynda Zycherman. 2025. \u201cFluid Dynamics: Installing and Maintaining Michael Stevenson\u2019s The Fountain of Prosperity <\/em>\/ Din\u00e1mica de fluidos: instalaci\u00f3n y mantenimiento de la escultura La fuente de la prosperidad<\/em>, de Michael Stevenson.\u201d In Contem\u00adporary Art Review, Vol. 3. <\/em>Edited by Jessica Walthew, Gabrielle Crowther, and Austin Anderson. Washington, DC: AIC. 36\u201352.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fluid Dynamics: Installing and Maintaining Michael Stevenson\u2019s The Fountain of Prosperity Soon Kai Poh, Andy Wolf, and Lynda Zycherman Contemporary Art Review, Volume 3 (2023) Din\u00e1mica de fluidos: instalaci\u00f3n y mantenimiento de la escultura La fuente de la prosperidad, de Michael Stevenson Soon Kai Poh, Andy Wolf, and Lynda Zycherman Contemporary Art Review, Volumen 3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":284,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-288","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}