Title

Doing Artworks. A Study into the Presentation and Conservation of Installation Artworks

Name

Vivian van Saaze

Affiliation(s)

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University & Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN, now: Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE))

Supervisor(s)

Prof. dr. R. Zwijnenberg (University of Leiden)

Prof. dr. R. van de Vall (Maastricht University)

Y. Hummelen (ICN, RCE)

Date of completion

December 2009

Key words

Conservation theory, ethics, contemporary art, installation artworks, museum practices, artist’s intention, authenticity, Science and Technology Studies (STS), ethnographic research methods.

Abstract

During the last three decades, installation artworks have become mainstream in contemporary artistic practices. Acquiring and displaying such works, however, implies that curators and conservators have to deal with obsolete technologies, ephemeral materials and other problems concerning the care and management of these artworks. Installation artworks challenge traditional museum practices of collecting and conservation. How do museums approach these challenges and how to understand the role of conservation theory and ethics in these practices? Drawing on fieldwork in contemporary art museums, this book explores how key concepts such as authenticity and artist’s intention figure in day-to-day museum work. Moreover, the study shows how conservation practices behind-the-scenes play an important role in the perpetuation of installation artworks. Consequently, it argues that the common distinction between front (presentation and display) and back (conservation and collection management) is particularly untenable in the case of installation artworks.

How to access the dissertation

The dissertation is available in several (Dutch) libraries and will be more widely available soon. In the meantime please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Previous education and/or work experience

Vivian van Saaze (1975) graduated on a study into the iconology of materials used in contemporary art from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, in 1998. During her studies she undertook several internships in contemporary art museums, worked as an artist’s assistant and followed history of art classes at the University of Hull (U.K.). After graduation she moved to Amsterdam and became a freelance curator and art critic. In 2001 she started to work for the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN, now RCE) and participated in several research projects concerning the conservation of contemporary art carried out by the Dutch Foundation for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (SBMK), the Netherlands Media Art Institute/Montevideo (NIMk) and ICN. In 2003 she started her PhD research - funded by the ICN and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), Maastricht University - into the working practices of contemporary art museums and their approach to presenting and preserving installation artworks. Besides doing research she coordinated and lectured both bachelor and master courses at FASoS, co-organised several international expert meetings, and co-authored the project proposal ‘New Strategies in the Conservation of Contemporary Art’, a collaboration of FASoS, ICN and the University of Amsterdam (UvA). In 2009 she became postdoctoral researcher at FASoS within this research project.

Current position

Postdoctoral research fellow at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University. Her current research, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), further explores museum practices by analysing the relationship between knowledge transfer and procedures of documentation in the re-execution of contemporary artworks with a focus on installation and performance based art. Project website: www.newstrategiesinconservation.nl

Contact details

Vivian van Saaze (PhD)
Postdoctoral Researcher
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.fdcw.unimaas.nl/staff/van saaze
Maastricht University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Department of Literature and Art
P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Visiting address: Grote Gracht 90-92, 6211 SZ Maastricht, Room B2.36
T +31 43 3883472 / F +31 43 3884917