Press Conference Exhibition: Scandal and Myth, Vienna

Scandal and Myth
A survey of the archives of documenta 5 (1972)
The succesfull Vektor-exhibition from the documenta archive comes to Vienna!
Kunsthalle wien project space and basis wien

29 May – 28 July, 2002

Press Conference: Tuesday, 28 May, 10 am at the Kunsthalle wien
Opening: Tuesday, 28 May, 7pm more >>

Press Info

Please contact our press department in case that you have any questions: Email Press Deparment

Press Clippings can be found here: Basis Wien Database

vektor. EUROPEAN CONTEMPORARY ART ARCHIVES
An International Research Project – Database Construction and Contemporary Art

www.vektor.at


Introduction

Since the landslide victory of the internet in all information and distribution channels, art institutions have also been confronted with the inevitable necessity of using the "New Media." From information and mediation work, theoretical and scholarly projects to the conservation of art works and the accom-panying secondary materials, the quantity and quality of digitalisation processes, computer-aided me-diation work as well as the possibility of e-commerce have become an issue for museums and exhibi-tion places, their libraries and archives. However, the conceptual and technological levels of art insti-tutions - if you compare different locations in Europe - are more varied than one might think. Between total virtual networking and the slow beginnings of digitising historically valued material, one can currently find every level of this development

Historical and big state museums have been concerned with technological and organisational problems of digitising art works and, together with software producers, they have undergone a significant devel-opment. In many cases, the stock of libraries has gone online and been accessible for years. The insti-tutions of modern and contemporary art, however, are so diverse in their history, structure, content, and mediation work that extensive structural changes have not yet led to common concepts. Moreover, most of these institutions do not have enough space, staff, and budget, which, for some, makes it very unrealistic from the start to think of concepts about entering the virtual world

However, for these numerous small and medium-sized institutions, which are located in urban or re-gional areas, or also in the form of associations, supporting measures would be very useful. Very of-ten, these institutions work on the design of elaborate websites and extensive homepages on exhibi-tions and projects. Their creation, however, rarely includes concepts for further development, archive methods, and the necessary technological adaptations (which are due very quickly). Furthermore, it can be observed that many links, linking lists and information websites seldom go beyond the initial founding phase because they are not made for a useful, long-term preservation of artistic/museological materials

Inspite of this, these exhibition or research institutions produce today what will be the cultural heritage of tomorrow

The preservation of contents seems difficult because especially the documentation of contemporary art with its discursive and theoretical production cannot only amount to a simple addition of materials. The consideration of diverse materials, which is practised by the documenta archive, becomes essen-tial. Mediation concepts for the audience as well as software developments have to be closely linked to art production and theoretical research activities

Project Consortium
documenta Archiv Kassel, John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton, Museion – Museum für Moderne Kunst, Bozen, Archives de la Critique d’Art, Rennes, Zentralarchiv des internationalen Kunsthandels, Bonn/Köln

Associated Partners
Archive of the Academy of fine Arts, Prague, Archive for Small Press and Communication, Bremen, Contemporary Art Center, Skopje, Goldsmith College, London, Institut für Moderne Kunst, Nürnberg, Kunst-Bulletin / Schweizerischer Kunstverein, Zürich, Ludwig Múzeum Budapest, Moderna Galerija Ljubljana, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum Graz, Generali Foundation Wien, and AIT - Angewandte Informationstechnik Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Graz

Issues and Goals of vektor

The research project primarily deals with the scientific foundations to digitise and mediate materials on contemporary art within differently structured institutions. One of our concerns is the establishment of an internationally valid standardisation for recording data on contemporary art (online). more >>