AIC's 41st Annual Meeting

In the past 5 years contemporary art museums, and other institutions actively collecting artists’ video, have witnessed a significant technological shift from video tape to digital file as the primary form of video material coming into our care. This shift has been caused by artists producing new work as digital files and also by a change in institutional migration programs as we move from tape to file in response to the ongoing needs of preservation and display.

As a consequence of this shift, institutions rapidly need to become familiar with a new set of technologies for the preservation, storage, and display of video. To effectively respond to these changes, new alliances are needed with the broadcast industry and the archive sector and also, crucially, with the IT domain.

In 2012 project members for Matters in Media Art decided to conduct a small survey in order to create a snap shot of this area of emerging practice. Staff from 12 institutions in the USA and Europe who are recognised as amongst the leaders within our sector in addressing the challenges associated with caring and managing video as digital files were interviewed. In addition to gathering information about practice with regard to both artist supplied digital files and files created during the migration from tape formats, the survey also captured information about the type and size of the video collections and the resources available. The survey has resulted in a greater understanding of the strategies, solutions and challenges these institutions are currently facing.

This paper will discuss the results of the survey and identify common practices that may be generalised for other institutions, as well as identify needs for training and tools.