Conserving Time-Based Art at the Wurtele Study Center

In addition to storing over 42,000 objects from across the Gallery’s encyclopedic collection, the Margaret and Angus Wurtele Study Center is a site for the conservation of time-based media, a category that includes films and works of computer-based, video, and sound art, which unfold to the viewer over time. These objects pose unique challenges for conservators because they are contingent upon technologies that are constantly being innovated and therefore carry the threat of obsolescence. Join Roksana Filipowska, Wurtele Study Center Programs and Outreach Manager, and Madeline Smith, Postgraduate Associate in Time-Based Media Conservation, for an introduction to conserving time-based artworks, along with a consideration of what museum professionals look for when researching their provenance. Generously sponsored by the Martin A. Ryerson Lectureship Fund.