 |
 |
 |
 |
Structure andThe following template has been provided as a generic outline for a structure and condition report. This template is intended to be a starting point only. The user will want to modify it to conform to practices within the acquiring institution or collection.
To accompany this document media-specific prompt sheets have been provided on the right to offer an indication of what to consider when examining specific types of media or components. These are a starting point and not comprehensive.
ARTIST:
TITLE:
ACCESSION NUMBER:
DURATION:
DESCRIPTION:
Brief description of the work and what is important
KEY ARTWORK INFORMATION:
Please see specific prompt sheets for information that should be entered here about the artwork.
LIST OF COMPONENTS SUPPLIED AS PART OF THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE WORK
MEDIA:
Please list the status of the media elements, describe its condition and enter key cataloguing information. Cheat sheets (see above, or download on right) are available for different types of media
DISPLAY EQUIPMENT:
INVENTORY
Prompt sheets are available for different types of display equipment
SCULPTURAL ELEMENTS:
Please describe the condition of the sculptural elements and enter key cataloguing information.
PACKING AND CASES:
How are the elements packed. Describe the cases.
WHAT ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS WERE MADE FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES?
WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED FOR THE DISPLAY OF THE WORK?
Indicate whether it was purchased or will need to be purchased before it goes on display
DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE MEDIA ELEMENTS WERE MADE:
Provide a description of how the work was made. For example the work was shot on 16mm film by the artist, the footage was telecined prior to editing and then edited on computer (AVID) and output on digital betacam. For display the gallery has provided a standard definition DVD which was encoded at 8.9 mbps. The gallery then provided a digital Betacam clone and a copy of the DVD to the gallery as part of the acquisition.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:
This statement is based on the views of the artist, the curator and the conservator as to what is important about the work. The aim is to provide a statement which will help guide future decisions about the ongoing care and display of the work.
This statement will be drafted early on but amended once key processes are completed such as the artists' interview. For example in the installation they shoot horses the artist, Phil Collins has said that the volume should be equivalent to a night club so that the viewer feels a rush of excitement as they enter the space. In other examples key aspects of the significance of components might relate to a link an art historian or curator has made to the themes of a work, its technology, the way one enters the space, a colour used, or the context or historical moment in which the work was made etc.
ASSESSMENT OF THE GREATEST RISKS:
DISASSOCIATION OF INFORMATION
Inadequate installation instructions (see installation template for the level of information considered adequate)
Inadequate information about the status, dates and origin of the media elements (see below for catalogue information required)
RISK OF OBSOLESCENCE OF KEY DISPLAY EQUIPMENT OR TECHNOLOGIES
Having established that an item of display equipment or a particular technology is key to the ability to be able to continue to display the work without significant loss assess the risk of obsolescence (already obsolete, obsolete in the next five years) against its unique contribution to the work. For example a Gary Hill computer-control system and media playback system can be migrated with no significant loss whereas the inability to show his monitor-based works without cathode ray tube monitors would represent a significant loss.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH POOR MANAGEMENT OF MEDIA ELEMENTS AND DISPLAY EQUIPMENT
A high risk of this type is where the condition of master material is poor and/or it is on obsolete formats and has not been migrated onto new formats.
Similarly for display equipment a high risk would be associated with equipment which was very important to the work but that it had not been serviced and maintained, no service manuals etc were provided and no spares were available.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DETERIORIATION OF SCULPTURAL ELEMENTS
In this case a high risk of no longer being able to display this work would be associated with the sculptural elements being in a poor and unstable condition.
CONSERVATION PLAN
This will relate to the risks identified above. Priorities will be set by the level of risk and the value of the component at risk.
SIGNED:
DATE:
< Back to main structure and condition report
top