IFA, NYU | Topics in Time-based Media Art -Video Sculpture in Shigeko Kubota: Liquid Reality at MoMA: Collabora

The exhibition Shigeko Kubota: Liquid Reality features a selection of groundbreaking video sculptures made between 1976-85, presented together for the first time in thirty years. Positioned by the artist between “reality and mirage,” the conservation and care of these multilayered works pose a compelling set of concerns, activating questions that typically pertain to disparate classifications of art: unique sculptural objects, variable media, and conceptual propositions. In this virtual roundtable, Erica Papernik-Shimizu, Associate Curator, Department of Media and Performance at MoMA will be joined by conservators Amy Brost, Lia Kramer, and Andy Wolf to discuss how the Museum prepared two sculptures from its collection for display and collaboratively developed a plan to care for loaned works during the exhibition, in close consultation with the Shigeko Kubota Video Art Foundation. Jochen Saueracker, the Foundation’s archive director, will speak about the Foundation’s recent conservation initiatives, including the realization of new iterations. Through an examination of the varied strategies explored by the Museum and the Foundation, and how they intersect, overlap, and inform one another, we can gain a deeper understanding of the rigorous and poetic concepts at the heart of Kubota’s artistic practice.

What kind of legal implications arise when collecting contemporary art? This presentation considers the many facets of authorship and ownership, and how they shape processes of acquisition and conservation of contemporary artworks, particularly time-based media works. The legal instruments specific to the care and preservation of these works will be discussed. Overall, the presentation reflects on how we might develop a greater understanding of the unique legal relationship between the artist and the collector, one that expands beyond a simple transaction.