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 Collecting the Uncollectible Panelists: Kathy Halbreich, Ann Hamilton, Pamela Kramlich, and Donald and Mera Rubell Moderated by Linda Shearer The following white paper is drawn from the remarks of the panelists and moderator for this session, along with the questions and responses from members of the audience. This document is intended to reflect the variety of viewpoints offered during the discussion, and to frame broadly the issues discussed; it should not be taken as a formal statement of opinion by the panelists. There are many challenges surrounding works of art from the second half of the twentieth century. While the usual questions persist among critics, collectors, and curators about the artistic and aesthetic merits of specific works, much modern and contemporary art also raises another set of questions that must be addressed simply in order to continue collecting and presenting these pieces. Among these issues are:
An increasing number of works involve "new media"—from computers to video projectors to DVD players. As these technologies have become cheaper, more accessible, and more sophisticated, artists are using them in growing numbers. Likewise, the last half-century has seen artists using synthetic materials—e.g., plastic-based paints, styrofoam, polyurethanes—in everything from painting to sculpting to multi-media installations. As the ability to manipulate these chemicals within an artist's studio has become safer and more manageable, their use has grown as well. This widespread use of new media and other challenging materials raises serious issues about collecting and preservation—and about the underlying issues of artistic intent. There are serious institutional and artistic concerns involved with the threat of obsolete electronics, decaying matter, and sustaining digital technologies and formats; some art poses interactive or even legal challenges and are termed "attractive nuisances." When acetate film reels deteriorate, institutions may attempt to preserve pieces on digital video—but this can alter the quality of the image from the artist's original, even as the work is being "upgraded" to a more current and more stable medium. Similarly, works by artists such as Mark Rothko and Eva Hesse have turned out to be particularly delicate and prone to deterioration under all but the most stringent conditions—and their conservation has raised questions about the vibrancy or opacity of colors and materials. Conservators struggle with these crucial questions, when preserving a work may require defeating or changing the artist's intended meaning or design. The size of a work is another factor that often encourages collectors and institutions to rethink their collecting strategies and exhibition spaces. One response is to plan for the creation of facilities to better accommodate such large-scale works. However, for many institutions this is often impractical, since a reorientation around a single object can be difficult and expensive; for private collectors, such redesigns can be also costly, but they are largely free of many of the same constraints faced by museums. The creation of large scale, private sculpture gardens, or of installations in semi-public spaces by corporate collectors, is commonplace precisely because of these collectors' flexibility to adapt their environment to these works of art. Many artists make work that reflects contemporary society, often resulting in art with content and subject matter that can be challenging and difficult. Art that focuses on issues related to politics, race, or sexuality can present even more challenges to its "collectibility." Ultimately, the very institutional preoccupation with identifying and classifying objects may be something that an artist and their collector must confront together. Works that could be deemed "uncollectible"—whether categorized as "new media," made with non-traditional materials, monumental in scale, or difficult in content—should still be approached with equal consideration. An object's "collectibility" should not be taken as secondary to its value as art. Facing The Challenges Now—And For The Future To address the concerns inherent in collecting and preserving these works, a number of new concepts have emerged to help manage the collecting and conservation processes, to pool resources and share knowledge. For instance, the New Art Trust was developed by private collectors in conjunction with three major museums: the Tate, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. Among other things, the Trust is working with museum conservation departments to standardize their practices regarding new media works. These guidelines will help with the preservation of existing works—but perhaps as critically, they may assist new collectors with the purchase of digital media by raising awareness of the challenges inherent in such works, e.g., what sort of equipment will be needed for long-term storage and display? And what kind of maintenance will be necessary for any technological, mechanical, or other components related to work itself? Moreover, these cooperative arrangements can lead to new ways of storing and caring for works that can help institutions economize the substantial costs of collecting, and in turn, providing increased opportunities for the work to be on display. By creating pooled collections, accessible to a group of institutions that share the costs and the opportunities the works present, more of the "uncollectible" can be safely collected, preserved, and presented to future generations. For citation, please reference: http://www.berkshireconference.org/content/2004-collecting.cfm
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