Imago Revisited

2009


In the 1990s a Dutch exhibition of media art toured the world: Imago, fin de siècle in Dutch contemporary art. It was a traveling exhibition, curated by René Coelho and produced by MonteVideo/TBA (nowadays known as the Netherlands Institute of Media Art, NIMk), in which the various ways Dutch artists were applying new technologies were introduced to a wide audience. 

Instituut Collectie Nederland and the Netherlands Media Art Institute are working together on the re-installation of two objects from this exhibition in the project Imago Revisited. The two works are Panta Rhei (1988) by Ricardo Füglistahler and Mill x Molen (1982) by Bert Schutter.

Why this project?
Because of constantly changing technology, media art requires special attention in the fields of management and conservation. In practice, re-installation and/or restoration of video art works often means emulation: the video signal is transferred to a vehicle that is compatible with current hardware in order to make the signal visible for the viewer today. In the years 2002- 2006 three video installations from the Imago exhibition were set up again, restored and documented: A virus of Sadness by Lydia Schouten, Albert's Ark by Bill Spinhoven and Revolution by Jeffrey Shaw and Tjebbe van Tijen. The re-installation of Revolution and Albert's Ark took place as part of the project , an international collaborative project in which various case studies were carried out. Inside Installations led to the first guidelines for management, conservation and documentation of installation art. However, collection managers have not found these guidelines widely applicable.

Guidelines and protocols
In the Imago Revisited project the ICN and Media Art Institute want to test the guidelines developed by Inside Installations in two supplementary case studies and further develop them into generally applicable protocols for management and conservation of installation art.

In the context of the project the installations Panta Rhei by Ricardo Füglistahler and Mill x Molen by Bert Schutter will be constructed again on location at the Media Art Institute. The test set-up and re-installation, the testing of guidelines and the creation of the protocols will be recorded and published in English and Dutch on the websites of the ICN and Media Art Institute.

The project is related to PRACTICs (Practices, Research, Access, Collaboration, Teaching In Conservation of contemporary art), a European project in which 34 museums an educational institutions are cooperating on the conservation of contemporary art. The results of the Imago Revisited project will also be published through PRACTICs' communication channels.

Erection and presentation
The erection of the installations will take place in week 47. On Thursday, 19 November, 2009 the newly erected works will be presented to the public at the Netherlands Media Art Institute at 8:00 p.m. The evening consists of a presentation by restorer Evelyne Snijders, who has performed research on the works, and presentations by both artists. The documentation surrounding the works will also be exhibited. The exhibition will remain open to the public from Friday, 20 November through Sunday, 22 November.