Conservation of Contemporary Art - Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice

This open access book investigates whether and how theoretical findings and insights in contemporary art conservation can be translated into the daily work practices of conservators or, vice versa, whether and how the problems and dilemmas encountered in conservation practice can inform broader research questions and projects. For several decades now, the conservation of contemporary art has been a dynamic field of research and reflection. Because of contemporary art's variable constitution, its care and management calls for a fundamental rethinking of the overall research landscape of museums, heritage institutions, private-sector organizations and universities. At first, this research was primarily pursued by conservation professionals working in or with museums and other heritage organizations, but increasingly academic researchers and universities became involved, for instance through collaborative projects. This book is the result of such collaboration. It sets out to bri dge the "gap" between theory and practice by investigating conservation practices as a form of reflection and reflection as a form of practice.

Inhaltsverzeichnis:

Introduction to the Volume.- Part I Theorizing Conservation as a Reflective Practice.- Artworks in Art Museums.- Doing Ethics in Practice: SBMK Platform Meetings.- Part II The Identity of the Art Object.- The Enfolding Object of Conservation: Artwork Identity, Authenticity, and Documentation.- When Old Was New: Rethinking Traditional and Contemporary Art and Their Paradigms of Care.- Languages of Conservation: A Comparison between Internet-based Art and Built Heritage.- No Longer Artwork.- Part III Professional Roles and Identities: Conservators, Curators, and Artists.- Visible Issues. Insights into the Professional Identity of the Conservator.- Conceptual Art and Conservation.- Reinstalling Thomas Hirschhorn's Doppelgarage (2002): Bridging Gaps between Theory, Practice and Emotion in the Preservation of Installation Artworks.- The Increasing Role of Artists' Estates in the Preservation of Contemporary Art.-Part IV Documentation and Decision-making in Theory and Practice.- D ocumenting hybrid mixed media art forms: the role of the audience.- Sharing Knowledge in Art Conservation: From Repository Building to Research Publishing.- Collections of (An)archives: Towards a New Perspective on Institutional Collecting of Contemporary Art and the Object of Conservation.- Decision-Making for the Conservation and Presentation of Thermoelectronic Chewing Gum (1970), a Political Environment by Wolf Vostell.- Part V The Role of Research in the Art Museum.- The Living Process of Conserving Performance: Theory and Practice in the Conservation of Performance-based Artworks at Tate.- Integrating Front-of-House with Behind-the-Scenes Practice in Contemporary Art Conservation.- Is Trust Enforceable? The Conservation of Contemporary Artworks from a Socio-legal Perspective.- Making Time.