{"id":1599,"date":"2019-07-30T15:25:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T19:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/?page_id=1599"},"modified":"2019-11-01T15:59:23","modified_gmt":"2019-11-01T19:59:23","slug":"nichols","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/volume-5-2017-2018\/nichols\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happened When? Creating Retroactive Iteration Reports for Time-based Media Artworks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alexandra Nichols
The Electronic Media Review, Volume Five: 2017-2018<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABSTRACT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In\nrecent years, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has increasingly acquired\ntime-based media, with the total collection numbering 274 time-based media\nartworks as of May 2018. A current best practice in the documentation of\ntime-based media artworks is to create iteration reports, which document the\nmanner in which a variable artwork is displayed in a specific exhibition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthis article, research regarding the creation of retroactive iteration reports\nfor past exhibitions and the challenges in relying on secondary sources and\nincomplete documentation is presented. Cross-departmental collaboration was\nkey, as conservation relied on conversations and interviews with a wide range\nof staff members involved in the installation of the works. Recognizing that\neyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable, the author investigated\nscientific research related to the formation and recall of human memories.\nAdditionally, she consulted prominent journalists to learn about methodologies that\nthey employ to invoke memories and encourage more descriptive responses from\ninterview subjects. The results of this research are demonstrated in a\ndiscussion of lessons learned and practical advice gained throughout the\nproject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTRODUCTION<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has been rapidly expanding its collection of time-based media (TBM) art. As of May 2018, the collection totaled 274 artworks, with the collection quadrupling over the past four years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Fig. 1. Growth of the time-based media collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995 to May 2018. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The collection is split among five different curatorial departments: the Department of Photographs, Modern and Contemporary Art, The Costume Institute, Asian Art, and Drawings and Prints, with the majority of the collection based in the Photographs and Modern and Contemporary Art Departments. The Met established the Time-based Media Working Group in 2001 to address the unique needs of this collection, yet did not have staff dedicated to the conservation of TBM art until the addition of its first time-based media conservation fellow in 2017. As such, there has been a lack of documentation for past exhibitions of TBM at The Met. This is significant because detailed documentation into how an artwork is installed can be highly informative for future exhibitions and provide guidance in outgoing loans. Depending on staff members\u2019 institutional knowledge is risky, as memories fade and staff members retire or otherwise leave the institution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\norder to tackle this challenge, The Met adopted a documentation model developed\nby the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum that uses identity and iteration reports to\ndocument past exhibitions of TBM artworks in the collection. The first step in creating\na master list of past TBM exhibitions proved in itself to be challenging owing to\nthe unique organizational structure of The Met. The Met has 17 curatorial\ndepartments, each with its own definitions, policies, and procedures relating\nto exhibitions, installations, and collection rotations. Information and images\nabout past installations were collected by searching each department\u2019s\ncuratorial files, TMS records, and NetX, The Met\u2019s digital asset management\nsystem containing images of past exhibitions. Often, additional images could be\nfound on artist- and gallery-operated websites and Instagram accounts, and\ndescriptions of the installation could be found in other publications and\nreviews. In addition, staff members present for the installation of exhibitions\ncontaining TBM artworks were interviewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewing\nstaff members on past events poses challenges, as memory fades over time. In\naddition, The Met organizes approximately 60 exhibitions per year; thus, it\nwould be easy to confuse details between different exhibitions. Several\nscientific studies have investigated the human mind\u2019s ability to recall\nmemories accurately over time. In 2007, a study found that negative emotions\nexperienced during a particular event can increase one\u2019s ability to recall this\nevent (Kensinger 2007). However, the ability to recall specific details\nassociated with the event decrease, even more so than those in an event in\nwhich the subject has neutral feelings (Rimmele et al. 2011). In his doctoral\nthesis research, Farhan Sarwar found that juries are more likely to believe that\nan eyewitness\u2019s testimony is accurate if the eyewitness is confident in one\u2019s own\nmemory, but that confidence is not a reliable indicator of accuracy (Sarwar\n2011). The human brain can also insert false memories or distort existing\nmemories. In one study from 2013, subjects participating in a mock jury were\nplayed an audio recording describing a crime. When later asked to describe what\nthey had heard in the recording, 15% of the information provided by the\nsubjects were details that were not present in the recording but that would fit\na typical description of the type of crime in question (Lacy and Stark 2013). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfield of conservation has used oral history methodologies to interview artists\nfor many years; however, the focus of artist interviews is to guide the museum\nas to how to exhibit or preserve an artwork in the future<\/em>. When conducting interviews for the purpose of documentation\nof retroactive iteration reports, the purpose is to capture fine details from past<\/em> exhibitions. Furthermore, the\ninterviewer must always maintain a healthy skepticism that the details provided\nmay not be accurate by no intention of the interviewee. With this in mind, an\nindustry that may provide a more appropriate model for interview methodology is\njournalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several\njournalists from a range of publications and specialties were interviewed about\ntheir approaches to interviewing sources. These include Brian Beutler, Crooked\nMedia; Kriston Kapps, The Atlantic\nCityLab<\/em>; Phoebe Doris, The Washington\nPost<\/em>; Sommer Mathis, Atlas Obscura<\/em>;\nBrad Plumer, The New York Times<\/em>; Kay\nSteiger, Vox Media; and Jeff Young, The\nHuffington Post<\/em>. Several of those interviewed suggested starting interviews\nby having subjects describe the entire event in their own words at the\nbeginning of the interview and to follow up with questions after hearing the\nfull account. The journalists emphasized that it is also essential to\ncorroborate statements with physical documents, such as e-mails or\ncorrespondence, or with other individuals\u2019 statements. They then advised that,\nat the end of the interview, thank subjects for their time and ask the\ninterviewees for permission to contact them again for further clarification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmajority of journalists consulted suggested recording interviews and\nconversations, with the subject\u2019s permission. Many conversations can occur at\nunexpected times and in informal settings; thus, cellphone apps and computer\nprograms can be useful. TapeACall is a subscription-based app available on the\niOS and Android platforms that uses the three-way conference calling feature on\ncellphones to record both incoming and outgoing phone calls. TapeACall saves\nthe recordings in an account on an external server but can be exported via a\nuser\u2019s e-mail, Dropbox, or Google Drive account. AudioNote is an app available\nfor iOS and Android platforms as well as Mac and PC desktop operating systems\n(as of the time of this article, the iOS version is free, while the Android,\nMac, and PC versions are available for a small subscription), which allows the\nuser to annotate recorded audio with text linked to the timecode for the audio\nfile. There are also several desktop computer programs that offer the\ncapability to record video chats and calls. Google Hangout has a built-in\nscreen recording function that works across all platforms. For users of Mac\ncomputers, QuickTime offers a screen recording function that can be used for\nany video call, and Ecamm offers a free Call Recorder program that records\nSkype video calls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmethodologies and tools suggested by the journalists consulted proved to be\ninvaluable in the creation of retroactive iteration reports at The Metropolitan\nMuseum of Art. As a result of this research, The Met was able to augment its documentation\nfor the past exhibition of the collection. The information collected during\nthis research project expanded on the institution\u2019s understanding of a number\nof artworks in the collection and will prove itself essential the next time\nthat these artworks are requested for loan or are slated for exhibition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The\nauthor would like to acknowledge the Sherman Fairchild Foundation for its generous\nsupport of this research project. In addition, the author would like to extend sincere\nthanks to Nora Kennedy, Meredith Reiss, Catherine Burns, Paul Caro, Robin\nSchwalb, Doug Eklund, Ian Altveer, and other colleagues at The Metropolitan\nMuseum of Art, as well as the many journalists who agreed to be interviewed and\ngraciously answered the author\u2019s many questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REFERENCES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kensinger,\nE. 2007. Negative emotion enhances memory accuracy. Current Directions in Psychological Science<\/em> 16: 213\u2013218.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacy,\nJ. W. and C. E. L. Stark. 2013. The neuroscience of memory: implications for\nthe courtroom. Nature Reviews\nNeuroscience<\/em> 14 (9): 649\u2013658.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oral\nHistory Association. 2009. Principles and best practices for oral history. Oral\nHistory Association. www.oralhistory.org\/about\/principles-and-practices\/<\/a>\n(accessed 04\/10\/18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rimmele,\nU., L. Davachi, R. Petrov, S. Dougal, and E. A. Phelps. 2011. Emotion enhances\nthe subjective feeling of remembering, despite lower accuracy for contextual\ndetails. Emotion<\/em> 11 (3): 553\u2013562.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarwar, F. 2011. Eyewitness testimonies: The memory and meta-memory effects of retellings and discussions with non-witnesses. Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexandra Nichols
Sherman Fairchild Foundation Fellow
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Alexandra.Nichols@metmuseum.org
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexandra NicholsThe Electronic Media Review, Volume Five: 2017-2018 ABSTRACT In recent years, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has increasingly acquired time-based media, with the total collection numbering 274 time-based media artworks as of May 2018. A current best practice in the documentation of time-based media artworks is to create iteration reports, which document the manner … Continue reading “What Happened When? Creating Retroactive Iteration Reports for Time-based Media Artworks”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"parent":618,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1599","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1599\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/emg-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}