Ar#sts

and Archivists: Preserva#on and the Crea#ve Process session Associa#on of Moving Image Archivists Conference December 7, 2012 | SeaAle, WA, USA Kathryn Gronsbell, New York University (Moving Image Archiving & Preserva#on) (to download only the presenta0on slides, please visit h4p://www.scribd.com/doc/ 122971474/Ar0sts-and-Archivists-Preserva0on-and-the-Crea0ve-Process-Archiving-the-Arts- out-of-the-basement-into-the-studio)

The concepts and collabora0ve spirit Im about to discuss are not new to AMIA, and probably less so to those in this room or already involved with the independent media commi4ee. Im here to oer my perspec0ve on what I have witnessed in this community, and what my hopes are for future eorts. My inten0on is not to sit here and preach, but rather to broadly address shiMs in the profession in hopes that the conversa0on will con0nue outside of this panel and this conference. A recogni0on of understanding the crea0ve process has been growing rapidly within the eld, with webinars and other ini0a0ves developing domes0cally and abroad, in an eort to share knowledge or conrm a collec0ve ignorance of our producers. That is to say, knowing the nuts and bolts of how media is produced in a crea0ve sePng including produc0on workows, crea0ve tendencies, and the ac0ons of individual content authors can only serve to benet the workows we create around them. As moving image archivists we have a ton on our plate already, we need to be able to explain what we do, why we do it, and why its important. We argue as much for the content we steward as for our set of ethics. The sen0ments I propose here support our commitment to respec0ng the creator, his/her content, and our evolving role in the rela0onship between the two.

(Je Mar0n, IMAP) Independent Media Arts Preserva0on was founded in 1999 with a mandate to serve the creators and caretakers of independently produced electronic media. For the past several years, IMAP has focused its eorts on low-cost workshops on media preserva0on. Our audience for these workshops has always taken in a wide range of peoplearchivists, librarians, students, and, of course, individual ar0sts. In 2011, IMAP decided to expand its workshops to create a more organized and thorough curriculum. We were fortunate to receive funding from the New York State Council on the Arts to carry out this expansion. In deba0ng the shape this expansion should take, IMAPs board realized that we had yet to create a workshop that was specically ar0st-centric. It seemed like an obviously good idea, but it was equally obvious that a workshop of this kind would be a challenge to create, and that we would need the input of ar0sts themselves. Happily, a chance mee0ng at the AMIA conference in Aus0n in 2011 led to the discovery that students from MIAP were exploring the same idea. It seemed like an obvious partnership. The community showed incredible interest and enthusiasm for the opportunity to sit together, listen, and discuss collabora0ons between archival professionals and ar0sts.

 The structure for Archiving the Arts was three-fold, and relied heavily on community feedback to form the iden0ty of the event and to inform what kind of needs werent being met in both the independent media art community and the associated archiving and preserva0on elds.
Image c/o Kathryn Gronsbell, NYU-MIAP; Program by Kris>n MacDonough, NYU-MIAP

As men0oned, November 2011 served as the ocial start period for this project. Followed by a one year planning period that included systema0c re-assessment of the community expecta0on of Archiving the Arts from feedback and proposals. Very happy to share that the event brought in over 100 a4endees and 13 presenters, including interna0onal speakers, cultural workers, ar0sts and lmmakers, amateurs and everyone in between. We were lucky to have a range of ar0sts and archivists, and individuals who iden0ed as both and could comment on the struggle to create with the responsibility of preserva0on or archival knowledge.
Image c/o Kathryn Gronsbell, NYU-MIAP; Program by Kris>n MacDonough, NYU-MIAP

Id like to share a sampling of some of the ques0ons and concerns raised at the event and how they might impact the development of our profession, in addi0on to proposing three steps that could help us be4er communicate with ac0ve ar0sts. Inherent in all this discussion and even in the 0tle of this session is a sense of division. True, we have our roles as representa0ves of the audiovisual archiving community and do take those responsibili0es very seriously.

Original Cap+on: R.D.W. Connor (1st Archivist of the U.S.) receiving lm "Gone With The Wind" from Senator George of Georgia and Carter Barron, Loew's Eastern Division manager, January 30, 1941. U.S. Na+onal Archives Local Iden+er: 64-NA-265 Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/ac>on/ExternalIdSearch?id=3493235 Repository: S>ll Picture Records Sec>on, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), Na>onal Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. For informa>on about ordering reproduc>ons of photographs held by the S>ll Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/s>ll-pictures.html Reproduc>ons may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/ order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html Access Restric>ons: Unrestricted Use Restric>ons: Unrestricted

Similarly, the ar0st and his/her crea0ve process are some0mes pushed aside or oversimplied as elements or risk factors in the long life of an object before it reaches our desks. From our collec0ve point of view, the crea0ve process is a uid and una4ainable sum of informa0on that further complicates the work we need to do when we receive independently produced media. A tripping point for us is the separa0on between what we think ar0sts do and what they actually do, and how that might aect the manner and methodology we use to process their work. This division can really be a slippery slope, so instead we should use it re-contextualize our rela0onship with media producers and move towards mutually benecial ac0on.
Flickr CC Bain News Service,, publisher. J.M. Flagg 1913 April 26 (date created or published later by Bain) 1 nega>ve : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. Notes: Title and date from data provided by the Bain News Service on the nega>ve. Photo shows illustrator and ar>st James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960). (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2008) Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collec>on (Library of Congress). Format: Glass nega>ves. Rights Info: No known restric>ons on publica>on. Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print General informa>on about the Bain Collec>on is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.12297 Call Number: LC-B2- 2610-1

Those working with arts collec0ons are not the only ones who understand the value of communica0ng early and oMen in the produc0on process. Discussion surrounding standardiza0on of Producer-Archive Interface Specica0on in the OAIS model as proposed by the Consulta0ve Commi4ee for Space Data Systems has fed our desire to inuence crea0on atleast of metadata prior to our previously dened place in the model. PAIS iden0es and provides a structure for the interac0ons between an informa0on producer and a deposit archive. And simply, the more educated we are about where things come from and how the come to be, the be4er we can be at taking care of them.

Original Cap+on: Washington Na>onal Records Center, stack area, with employee servicing records. U.S. Na+onal Archives Local Iden+er: 64-NA-3502 Subjects: United States Na>onal Archives Personnel Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/ac>on/ExternalIdSearch?id=4477179 Repository: S>ll Picture Records Sec>on, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), Na>onal Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. For informa>on about ordering reproduc>ons of photographs held by the S>ll Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/s>ll-pictures.html Reproduc>ons may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/ order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html Access Restric>ons: Unrestricted Use Restric>ons: Unrestricted

This issue has also been addressed locally by ini0a0ves like Ac0vists Archivists, with postcards, community workshops, and on-going communica0on with ac0ve producers whose work is at risk for persecu0on. This same eort can be put forth on the cultural heritage front, and allow us to be4er understand the content we spend our lives caring for. From across disciplines, developing models are oering educa0onal opportuni0es for communi0es interested in making their work available in the long term or construc0ng standards to hold them to.
Original Cap+on: Washington Na>onal Records Center, stack area, with employee servicing records. U.S. Na+onal Archives Local Iden+er: 64-NA-3502 Subjects: United States Na>onal Archives Personnel Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/ac>on/ExternalIdSearch?id=4477179 Repository: S>ll Picture Records Sec>on, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), Na>onal Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. For informa>on about ordering reproduc>ons of photographs held by the S>ll Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/s>ll-pictures.html Reproduc>ons may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/ order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html Access Restric>ons: Unrestricted Use Restric>ons: Unrestricted

Whether draMing policies for your ins0tu0on or ac0ng as an individual, recognize that there will be challenges, inevitable loss, and complicated rela0onships that result from poking our collec0ve head into an ar0sts studio. Unless you iden0fy as an ar0st and can speak from experience, you going into their workspaces or communi0es is the equivalent of someone from a Tupperware conven0on coming in to this panel and telling us to preserve to SVHS. Read the specs for the machines ar0sts use, inves0gate and learn abbrevia0ons and annota0on styles for dierent parts of the crea0ve process, realize that not all developments are linear in crea0vity and that diversity in that sense should be embraced and recorded, instead of being seen as a hindrance to the preserva0on of an object.

Bain News Service,, publisher. Auto polo [between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915] 1 nega>ve : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. Notes: Title from unveried data provided by the Bain News Service on the nega>ves or cap>on cards. Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collec>on (Library of Congress). Format: Glass nega>ves. Rights Info: No known restric>ons on publica>on. Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print General informa>on about the Bain Collec>on is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.11114 Call Number: LC-B2- 2473-10

The misunderstanding or plain ignorance of the crea0ve process I men0oned earlier should not be seen as a pijall, but an opportunity for true inter-community rela0onship building. We can make our elds resources available to ar0sts and vice versa. Eorts to nurture an exchange of informa0on will compound and form 0es to the creators and their inten0ons. It would be irresponsible for this eld to evolve further without eorts to understand where and how our media comes into existence. A huge part of this ini0a0ve is to oer preserva0on and conserva0on training early in the crea0ve process so if the ar0st chooses to make responsible choices for their work, they have the proper resources and training to do so. Preven0ve preserva0on is not a radical idea taking small but consistent steps in stabilizing media during produc0on will only result in a healthier life for that object. You can think of this as scalable disaster planning, as something will happen to this object and we will do everything in our power to prepare as best we can.

ID Number: 013225 Maker: John Earl (Earl) McNeil An American soldier at an advanced allied base, with his pet kangaroo Rights Info: No known copyright restric>ons. This photograph is from the Australian War Memorial's collec>on www.awm.gov.au Persistent URL:hhp://cas.awm.gov.au/item/013225

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Crea0on is an incredibly vola0le experience and should be handled delicately, especially early on in our rela0onship-building eorts with ar0sts. We must also recognize that some individuals dont want to have anything to do with us, and the best we can do is have the resources and training opportuni0es available for them should they change their mind. In the event that independent media ar0sts do wish to communicate with us, we need to be prepared as a profession to eld their ques0ons. When we suggest crea0ng certain types of masters or documen0ng their process, we must oer ways that are either already in their eld of vision or can be easily integrated with their consent. One of the demands of creators at Archiving the Arts was that we not create any more unique tools for ar0sts to document themselves, that they already choose what they like and a more eec0ve approach would be to use exis0ng models to gather informa0on we need for downstream use.

William Reed lming "The Romance of Runnibede", Sydney, 1927 / Sam Hood Format: Nega>ve From the collec>ons of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales www.sl.nsw.gov.au Informa>on about photographic collec>ons of the State Library of New South Wales: acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/SimpleSearch.aspx Persistent url: acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=10609

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Here we get into a li4le bit of an internal ba4le, which Im hoping to move beyond with more dialogue. Professionally, we are content-neutral. For many of us, this aligns with our personal beliefs and allows us to argue for the value of marginalized material within our ins0tu0ons and speak on its behalf in other communi0es. A huge point of conten0on about reaching out directly to creators is that we are stepping on the toes of curators and pushing against ethical boundaries. By selec0ng which groups to educate about our goals and hopes for preserva0on of their work, we are hedging the bets that most of that stu might make it past its own inevitable disaster. Yes, factually that is correct. My response is simply this: we dont want to pick & choose, because its not in our nature to selec0vely inform. The goal here is equal and diverse knowledge dissemina0on. It may not be easy or quick, but it will dene how this profession evolves in the coming years.
Flickr CC: Format: Glass plate nega>ve. Rights Info: No known restric>ons on publica>on. Repository: Phillips Glass Plate Nega>ve Collec>on, Powerhouse Museum www.powerhousemuseum.com/collec>on/database/collec>on=Phillips_Glass _Plate_Nega>ve Part Of: Powerhouse Museum Collec>on General informa>on about the Powerhouse Museum Collec>on is available at www.powerhousemuseum.com/collec>on/database Persistent URL: hhp://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collec>on/database/?irn=386444 Acquisi+on credit line: Gik of the Estate of Raymond W Phillips, 2008

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 Our plan is to u0lize the ndings of the two events in Bualo, the NYU symposium, the discussion today, as well as consulta0on with IMAPs advisory board, to shape a full-day workshop aimed at ar0sts who want to care for their own collec0ons. IMAP plans to oer the workshop for the rst 0me in the second quarter of 2013.

Original Cap+on: "The Tetons - Snake River," Grand Teton Na>onal Park, Wyoming. U.S. Na+onal Archives Local Iden+er: 79-AAG-1 From: Series: Ansel Adams Photographs of Na>onal Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941 - 1942, documen>ng the period ca. 1933 1942 Created By: Department of the Interior. Na>onal Park Service. Branch of S>ll and Mo>on Pictures. Photographer: Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984 Coverage Dates: 1933-1942 Subjects: Parks, Monuments Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/ac>on/ExternalIdSearch?id=519904 Repository: S>ll Picture Records Sec>on, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), Na>onal Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. For informa>on about ordering reproduc>ons of photographs held by the S>ll Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/s>ll-pictures.html Access Restric>ons: Unrestricted Use Restric>ons: Unrestricted

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Original Cap+on: "The Tetons - Snake River," Grand Teton Na>onal Park, Wyoming. U.S. Na+onal Archives Local Iden+er: 79-AAG-1 From: Series: Ansel Adams Photographs of Na>onal Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941 - 1942, documen>ng the period ca. 1933 1942 Created By: Department of the Interior. Na>onal Park Service. Branch of S>ll and Mo>on Pictures. Photographer: Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984 Coverage Dates: 1933-1942 Subjects: Parks, Monuments Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/ac>on/ExternalIdSearch?id=519904 Repository: S>ll Picture Records Sec>on, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), Na>onal Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. For informa>on about ordering reproduc>ons of photographs held by the S>ll Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/s>ll-pictures.html Access Restric>ons: Unrestricted Use Restric>ons: Unrestricted

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