Abstract
By exploring a series of videos by Stuart Marshall entitled Mouth Works (1975/76), this 20-minute paper considered the tensions underlying research that traces ephemeral contexts involving performance and recorded audio-visual material, modernist discourses, physicality and obsolescence in relation to archival research. Each of the three, short, black-and-white videos in Marshall's series depicts a fixed close-up of a mouth whose words speak phrases over and again, in and out of sync, in a living loop that shatters understanding of technology, time, space and the circumstances through which we watch them. The paper referred to theories of the voice and 'split' conditions of recorded utterance as discussed by Steven Connor (2000) and Mladen Dolar (2006). These concepts were used to frame examination of queer archives and the antiphonal dynamics of the artists' recorded voice as a catalyst for the evolving afterlife of works and what Simon Reynolds describes as the shared quests of the 'avant-garde' and the 'retro-grade' (2011, p.263). Analyses considered how history is translated by the mediums - whether written or technological - through which they reach us today, what Katherine Hayles calls the 'material metaphor, a term that foregrounds the traffic between words and physical artifacts' (2002, p.22).
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - 30 Jun 2017 |
| Event | Material Futures : Matter, Memory and Loss in Contemporary Art Production and Preservation - Glasgow, U.K. Duration: 29 Jun 2017 → 30 Jun 2017 |
Conference
| Conference | Material Futures : Matter, Memory and Loss in Contemporary Art Production and Preservation |
|---|---|
| Period | 29/06/17 → 30/06/17 |
Bibliographical note
Impact: Organised by the University of Glasgow and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network 'New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art‘, NACCA (which receives funding from the European Union‘s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 642892), Material Futures formed part of the public events programme of the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow - an internationally renowned institution, with an archive, gallery and diverse public events programme. The conference was well attended by academics, conservators, curators, members of the public, students and other interested parties, with over 80 delegates from museums, galleries, conservation studios and universities based in Europe, the US and Japan. Acting as both a platform for research and (via its links to Glasgow School of Art) as a means of connecting art researchers/art colleges (working on archives, preservation, conservation and historical research methodologies), contributing towards the profile of the newly established Kingston School of Art amongst other UK institutions as well as CARC (and the establishment of an interconnected Film and Photography research centre at the college).In the staging of existing works, commissioning of new works, and in planning for their futures, cooperation between contemporary artists and collecting institutions has become key. Contemporary artistic practices have prompted a reconsideration of boundaries between the roles of artists and institutional staff, and between processes of art production, exhibition, and preservation. In response, this two-day conference provided a forum for professionals and students working across different disciplines to discuss urgent questions regarding artwork identity, permanence and impermanence, reproducibility and replication, and the role of the artist and the institution in constructing and maintaining memory, exploring where artistic practice, curatorial practice, and conservation decision-making intersect through themes of materiality, memory and loss. Material Futures brought together international experts in the field to consider the practical and theoretical issues central to caring for the future of contemporary artworks. Through keynote lectures, panel discussions and short presentations, the conference considered questions of permanence and impermanence, reproducibility and replication, and the roles of the artist and the institution in constructing and maintaining memory. Planning committee: Dr. Dominic Paterson (University of Glasgow); Dr. Erma Hermens (Rijksmuseum); Brian Castriota (University of Glasgow); Nina Quabeck (University of Glasgow).
Organising Body: University of Glasgow and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network - 'New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art‘
Keywords
- Drama, dance and performing arts