Caitlin Jones and Paul Kuranko

Researchers in Residence (2007)

State of the Art (of Documentation): Three Case Studies for the Daniel Langlois Foundation's Ten Year Anniversary Exhibition

The collection, access and preservation of new media art poses a major challenge for institutions. Over the past ten years, many organizations have made concerted efforts to prevent such works from disappearing from cultural memory. Clear and extensive documentation of these works ensures that they remain "on record." In the past decade, numerous institutions have established research groups mandated to propose methodologies to adopt in the creation of this multifaceted documentation. The Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology leads the way by participating in the Variable Media Initiative (co-organized by the Guggheneim Museum), and creating the DOCAM research Alliance.

Jones and Kuranko’s project, has three major goals all directly related to the mandate and mission of the Foundation. The first is to survey and assess the considerable amount of activity in the field of media art preservation and documentation. The second component of the project is to undertake three case studies of art works included in the Foundation's exhibition e-art: New Technologies and Contemporary Art. The third objective of the project will be to make all findings available through the Daniel Langlois Foundation Web site.