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| == Versions, Fragments or Inaccessible Works? Conservation Approaches to Media Art Installations and Net Art Works in the Collection of the C³ Centre for Culture and Communication Foundation == | == Versions, Fragments or Inaccessible Works? Conservation Approaches to Media Art Installations and Net Art Works in the Collection of the C³ Centre for Culture and Communication Foundation == |
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| [[Anna Tüdős]], [[Márta Czene]], [[Márk Fridvalszki]] | [[contributors#tudos|Anna Tüdős]], [[contributors#czene|Márta Czene]], [[contributors#fridvalszki|Márk Fridvalszki]] |
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| {{TOC}} | {{TOC}} |
| ==== Introduction ==== | ==== Introduction ==== |
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| The C³ Centre for Culture and Communication Foundation is a small, yet long-established NGO with a video archive and media arts collection. The Centre was founded in the late 1990s with the aim of showcasing scientific and technological innovation and promoting collaboration between art, science and technology. For example, one of the C³'s exhibitions featured Hungary's first publicly accessible internet hotspot. C³'s collection and archives have grown organically through the accumulation of works and content related to its activities. The main interface for the collection is the [[http://catalog.c3.hu|catalog.C3.hu]] platform. Although preservation has been a matter of debate for years, if not decades, maintenance work on the platform is currently sporadic due to lack of resources. In this article, we present a new work called Home Page, an archive of net art selected from the C³ collection. The archive reorganises the works into a new conceptual framework, evoking the lost techno-optimist perspective of the internet. Its development was inspired by the idea of integrating the complete works of media artists on the platform and the importance of documenting art while the artist is present. | The C³ Centre for Culture and Communication Foundation is a small, yet long-established NGO with a video archive and media arts collection. The Centre was founded in the late 1990s with the aim of showcasing scientific and technological innovation and promoting collaboration between art, science and technology. For example, one of the C³'s exhibitions featured Hungary's first publicly accessible internet hotspot. C³'s collection and archives have grown organically through the accumulation of works and content related to its activities. |
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| | The main interface for the collection is the [[http://catalog.c3.hu|catalog.C3.hu]] platform. Although preservation has been a matter of debate for years, if not decades, maintenance work on the platform is currently sporadic due to lack of resources. In this article, we present a new work called Home Page, an archive of net art selected from the C³ collection. The archive reorganises the works into a new conceptual framework, evoking the lost techno-optimist perspective of the internet. Its development was inspired by the idea of integrating the complete works of media artists on the platform and the importance of documenting art while the artist is present. |
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| ==== The formation of the C³ collection ==== | ==== The formation of the C³ collection ==== |
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| ''Internet hub at the //Butterfly Effect// exhibition, Kunsthalle Budapest, 1996.'' | ''Fig. 1: Internet hub at the //Butterfly Effect// exhibition, Kunsthalle Budapest, 1996. Source: C3 Foundation.'' |
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| SCCA Budapest and C³ have been of great importance both locally and internationally. Major exhibitions before the C³ was founded include //SVB VOCE// (1991) //Polyphony// (1993), //Butterfly Effect// (1996), and subsequently //Perspective// (1999), //Media Model// (2000), //Vision// (2002) - all at the Budapest Kunsthalle, except for //Polyphony//, which is considered the first major public art event in the region. It is also worth mentioning the international conferences organised by SCCA Budapest, such as //The Media Are With Us!// (1990), //Problem Video// (1991), and the //VI International Vilém Flusser Symposium & Event Series// (1997). Works, recordings and documentation from these events form the core of the C³ collection. | SCCA Budapest and C³ have been of great importance both locally and internationally. Major exhibitions before the C³ was founded include //SVB VOCE// (1991) //Polyphony// (1993), //Butterfly Effect// (1996), and subsequently //Perspective// (1999), //Media Model// (2000), //Vision// (2002) - all at the Budapest Kunsthalle, except for //Polyphony//, which is considered the first major public art event in the region. It is also worth mentioning the international conferences organised by SCCA Budapest, such as //The Media Are With Us!// (1990), //Problem Video// (1991), and the //VI International Vilém Flusser Symposium & Event Series// (1997). Works, recordings and documentation from these events form the core of the C³ collection. |
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| ''Entry on the //Polyphony// exhibition (1993) on catalog.C3.hu.'' | ''Fig. 2: Entry on the //Polyphony// exhibition (1993) on catalog.C3.hu. Source: C3 Foundation.'' |
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| However, with the digital acceleration after 2009, the common platform has become obsolete, the structure restrictive and the content forgotten. Sustainability was not sufficiently addressed in the original objectives of the project and the limited operation of C³ did not allow the catalogue to be activated, presented and regularly updated (with the exception of an accessibility update in 2012). Even the project's website, which was supposed to be a central access point, eventually ceased to exist.[(http://gama-gateway.eu)] This cannot be blamed on a lack of expertise or skills, as the debate on the preservation of media arts has been going on since the birth of media arts, including on the European scene. The C³ was previously involved in another initiative, 404 Object Not Found. What Remains of Media Art? (2003), which was a research project focusing on specific works, using different case studies, to investigate problems and issues related to the presentation, documentation and preservation of media art. The project concluded with a congress at the Hartware Medien Kunst Verein (HMKV) in Dortmund. C³ presented a case study on the possible preservation of the online VRML artwork //Cryptogram//.[(http://www.c3.hu/cryptogram/)] | However, with the digital acceleration after 2009, the common platform has become obsolete, the structure restrictive and the content forgotten. Sustainability was not sufficiently addressed in the original objectives of the project and the limited operation of C³ did not allow the catalogue to be activated, presented and regularly updated (with the exception of an accessibility update in 2012). Even the project's website, which was supposed to be a central access point, eventually ceased to exist.[(http://gama-gateway.eu)] This cannot be blamed on a lack of expertise or skills, as the debate on the preservation of media arts has been going on since the birth of media arts, including on the European scene. The C³ was previously involved in another initiative, 404 Object Not Found. What Remains of Media Art? (2003), which was a research project focusing on specific works, using different case studies, to investigate problems and issues related to the presentation, documentation and preservation of media art. The project concluded with a congress at the Hartware Medien Kunst Verein (HMKV) in Dortmund. C³ presented a case study on the possible preservation of the online VRML artwork //Cryptogram//.[(http://www.c3.hu/cryptogram/)] |
| From these problems, one obvious shortcoming urged us to act: although the oeuvre of László László Révész, who died suddenly in 2021, was represented in the archive, his entries were fragmentary and incomplete. A frequent contributor to C³, Révész was an artist who produced a large body of work, integrating the genres of computer art, video and installations. With the help of artist and researcher Márta Czene, C³ was able to rethink how it represented his work in the catalogue. | From these problems, one obvious shortcoming urged us to act: although the oeuvre of László László Révész, who died suddenly in 2021, was represented in the archive, his entries were fragmentary and incomplete. A frequent contributor to C³, Révész was an artist who produced a large body of work, integrating the genres of computer art, video and installations. With the help of artist and researcher Márta Czene, C³ was able to rethink how it represented his work in the catalogue. |
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| The decision was also made to take a closer look at the net-based artworks in the collection and improve organisation and communication. The chosen methodology was to approach the collection from an artistic research perspective, and to examine the web-based projects as one large category, rather than isolating individual works. This process was led by curator Anna Tüdős and artist Márk Fridvalszki. | The decision was also made to take a closer look at the net-based artworks in the collection and improve organisation and communication. The chosen method was to approach the collection from an artistic research perspective, and to examine the web-based projects as one large category, rather than isolating individual works. This process was led by curator Anna Tüdős and artist Márk Fridvalszki. |
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| Starting in 2021 for the first time in many years, C³'s preservation activities consisted of the following three strands: the identification of structural problems and their rapid resolution, the use of an artist case study to test the potential of the decade-old catalogue platform, and artistic research into the preservation of the net art collection. | Starting in 2021 for the first time in many years, C³'s preservation activities consisted of the following three strands: the identification of structural problems and their rapid resolution, the use of an artist case study to test the potential of the decade-old catalogue platform, and artistic research into the preservation of the net art collection. |
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| | ==== Preserving the works of László László Révész ==== |
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| | László László Révész studied painting at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts (‘Magyar Képzőművészeti Főiskola’) and animation at the Hungarian College of Applied Arts (‘Magyar Iparművészeti Főiskola’). He created dadaist, intellectual performances with András Böröcz in the 1980s. From 1990 on, painting and films became decisive in his art, however, he had already made art pieces on his computer since the 1980s and had also continuously exhibited works of video art and installations. Working at VOX Television in Cologne, Germany, and also later on in several scholarship programs, he could use most modern computers and sofwares for his artistic projects that were not accessible in Hungary. Besides appearing in numerous European and American intitutions, his art pieces were also shown at the 8<sup>th</sup> Documenta in Kassel. |
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| | Narrativity and parallel perception, montages of juxtaposed images like open windows on a computer screen or iconostases play a pivotal part in his art. His versatile work spanning more than four decades was ground to a halt by his sudden death in March last year. |
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| | Although he was a regular participant of almost all exhibitions, programs of the C<sup>3</sup> Foundation or earlier the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts (SCCA),[([[http://catalog.c3.hu/index.php?page=person&id=136|http://catalog.C3.hu/index.php?page=person&id=136]] Accessed 1.3.2022)] documentation regarding him is fragmented and partly unsystematic in the archives and collections of C<sup>3</sup>, moreover, which of his previously exhibited pieces, if any, could be reconstructed without the artist and at what standard, remains questionable. |
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| | In the following, we will use three examples to describe the shortcomings and pitfalls of the documentation methods in C<sup>3</sup>'s archives, as well as those characteristic of Hungary in the 1990s with regard to new media art. Please note that Révész's oeuvre is only one example, he is not a better or worse documented artist than the average, it has only become relevant because his tragically sudden death closed the possibility of communication with him, making it impossible to answer any further, potentially crucial questions. |
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| | === The Triumphal Arch (Diadalív) === |
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| | ''Fig. 3: Révész László László, //The Triumphal Arch//, 1996.[(Source: [[http://www.c3.hu/scca/butterfly/Revesz/projecthu.html|http://www.c3.hu/scca/butterfly/Revesz/projecthu.html]]; //Balkon//, no. 3, 1996, p. 34.)]'' |
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| | The first example is //The Triumphal Arch//, an art piece by Révész presented at the C<sup>3</sup> exhibition called //The Butterfly Effect// (//A Pillangó-hatás//) in 1996. The exhibition was the first attempt to present contemporary media art in a historical context in Hungary. The material exhibited in the halls of the Art Gallery (Műcsarnok) comprised of two parts: //Media relics// (//Médiarelikviák//) showed Hungarian, Central and Eastern European discoveries of technology and media history, while //Coordinates of the Present// (//Jelenkoordináták//) displayed Hungarian and international works of media art.[([[http://www.c3.hu/c3/publications/index.php?kiid=16|http://www.C3.hu/C3/publications/index.php?kiid=16]] Accessed 15.2.2022)] |
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| | Révész’s work of art presented here was a triumphal arch projection. The description in the catalogue does not depict the finished work of art, it could have presumably been the artist’s preliminary plan or concept about how he would exhibit the piece. It starts with a short technical description and then goes on to the interpretation, the cultural and political readings of his own work. |
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| | > "A piece of canvas, measuring 2 x 2.20 meters and cut into the shape of a triumphal arch, is hung from the ceiling at a distance of one meter from the plane of the wall. The bottom edge of the canvas is at a height of 1.90 meters above the floor. A black, homogeneous form "complements" the arch on the wall; the video equipment, which is also hung from the ceiling, projects a computer animation over the arch, which corresponds, both in dimensions and in theme, to the "screen." The recorded material, an approximately two-minute-long and continuously replayed loop, has morphic character and is presented in strong contrasts. The morph always begins with a 3D/CAD structural drawing of a triumphal arch. In the course of the brief (3-4 seconds) transformations and re-transformations, it is this structure that turns into mobile compositions which derive and originate from the associative domain of the ideas of abundance-glory-triumph. These characteristic compositions are primarily the products and fruits of Eastern (Central) Europe, most notably melons, apples, plums and their variations of form. Thus I also diverge from the antique - or pseudo-antique - triumphal arches in the sense that I create a seemingly arbitrary artwork, as opposed to propagandistic (and counter-propagandistic) art, in which I manipulate art's disburdenment of propaganda. In other words, I manipulate that stage of development in the life of Central and Eastern Europeans when the politicization of art - its propaganda - is no longer important, but the "new" keeps us waiting in every domain, or as in my case, emerges as a variant of old forms."[(Eisenstein, Adele, Zsuzsa Megyesi, Andrea Szekeres (eds.), //A pillangó-hatás: Jelenkoordináták / The Butterfly Effect: Current Coordinates//, Budapest: SCCA, 1996. [[http://www.c3.hu/scca/butterfly/Revesz/project.html|http://www.C3.hu/scca/butterfly/Revesz/project.html]] Accessed 15.2.2022.)] |
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| | Contrary to the description, the work that appeared at the exhibition was realized in a slightly different manner according to press photos, the documentation of both C3 and the Art Gallery.[(exhibition documentation: The Butterfly Effect: Coordinates of the moment before discovery: International series of media art and media history events: Art Gallery, Budapest, 20 January 1996-25 February 1996 /Exhibition directed by Suzanne Mészöly and Miklós Peternák; Directed by the Soros Center for Contemporary Art and the Art Gallery, (Video recording of the opening and the exhibition: 1 ea video tape, articles: 49 photocopied pages), //Balkon//, no. 3, 1996, p. 34; //Népszabadság//, 27 January 1996, p. 27, photo: János Bánhalmi; [[http://www.catalog.c3.hu/index.php?page=work&id=1021&lang=HU|http://www.catalog.C3.hu/index.php?page=work&id=1021&lang=HU]] Accessed 20.2.2022.)] The piece of screening canvas emerging high in space and the black, three dimensional complementary form were omitted, instead, the screening was adjusted to the big door connecting two halls of the Art Gallery. Hence, the public could actually proceed under the arch itself. We suppose this form, much more simple and maybe more favourable than the one in the original plan, was inspired by the features of the place at the moment of directing. |
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| | In a sense, this piece had become an iconic part of the exhibition, almost all press articles, recommendations, summaries included a photo of it. Sadly, arts press articles do not abound in descriptions of the works of art either, they are mainly engaged with the then unusal topic of the exhibition and the fact itself that it could be realized. |
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| | The exhibition and the opening ceremony were documented by the Art Gallery on video, but the person in charge after video taping the opening speech, recorded the halls in succession at a swift walking speed, all in all devoting only about 10 seconds to this actual piece.[(The video recording can be viewed in the library of the Art Gallery. //The Butterfly Effect//, exhibition documentation: Coordinates of the moment before discovery: International series of media art and media history events: Art Gallery, Budapest, 20 January 1996-25 February 1996. (Video recording of the opening and the exhibition: 1 ea video)]. C<sup>3</sup> also stores videos about the exhibition, a part of which is publicly available with //The Triumphal Arch// being visible in a clip edited for the twentieth anniversary of C<sup>3</sup>.[([[http://www.c3.hu/20/|http://www.c3.hu/20/]] 2’50”)] Six-eight different photos were taken of it and published,[(//Balkon//, no. 3, 1996. p. 34; //Népszabadság//, 27 January 1996, p. 27, photo: János Bánhalmi; [[http://www.catalog.c3.hu/index.php?page=work&id=1021&lang=HU|http://www.catalog.C3.hu/index.php?page=work&id=1021&lang=HU]] Accessed 20.2.2022; //The Butterfly Effect: Coordinates of the moment before discovery//, CD-ROM, Budapest: C3, the Art Gallery, 1998.)] but all of these, just like the videos, only show the triumphal arch decorated with fruit varieties, and colleagues taking part in the exhibition cannot recall for sure either whether the space structure described by Révész was actually presented or not[(Personal interview with Miklós Peternák, János Sugár and Csaba Nemes)]. Based on the visual documentation, movement, the morphic character and rotation of the details cannot really be experienced either, because the same moment was randomly captured by almost all photographers. C<sup>3</sup> does not possess the original files, and since probate hearings will not be closed in the foreseeable future, the heritage may not be researched. Let me note in brackets here that even if it was open for research, knowing László László Révész’s self-documentation and self-organization habits it would require tremendous efforts to locate the files, if it was possible at all. |
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| | It is unexpectedly fortunate though that in the years before his death the artist shared with me a YouTube channel of his own consisting of mostly private, disorganized and partly unlabelled videos so that we could write about his old films,[(Czene, Márta, "Longing to be where we just are – László László Révész’s works of moving pictures in the reflection of representation" (’Elvágyódás oda, ahol éppen vagyunk - Révész László László mozgóképes munkássága az ábrázolás tükrében’) //Balkon//, no. 3, 2020, pp 12-16.)] It was in this collection of videos that we noticed an unlabelled, few-second-long moving image[([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcxAUma0-Ig&list=PL982824821BA596DB&index=47|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcxAUma0-Ig&list=PL982824821BA596DB&index=47]] 7’35”-9’15. Accessed 10.2.2022)] that basically matches the 1996-description of the work. It cannot be the original material that was projected, because on the basis of the preserved documentation the framing triumphal arch form appeared in front view there, however, it could obviously be some kind of a visual design that may have been exported from the original CAD file. This imagery features the initial, spatial structure of the triumphal arch, but no conclusions may be drawn from this as for the actual piece that was eventually exhibited. |
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| | {{c3-9.jpg?450}} {{c3-10.jpg?450}} |
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| | ''Fig. 4, 5: Révész László László, //Triumphal Arch//, 1996.[(Source: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcxAUma0-Ig&list=PL982824821BA596DB&index=47|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcxAUma0-Ig&list=PL982824821BA596DB&index=47]].)]'' |
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| | === SAN === |
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| | In an artist’s life it happens quite often that a work of art created in a technically well-equipped environment, under ideal circumstances must be orchestrated for the more modest conditions of an exhibition. This may also cause numerous uncertainties during reconstruction if the artist does not differentiate the versions with subtitles or some kind of notation, and photos taken in the previous location, where he had presented them as the exhibition plan, are mixed in the exhibition documentation with the version appearing in the new exhibition. |
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| | The case of László László Révész’s video and computer installation //SAN//, shown at the //Media Model// (//Média Modell//) exhibition organized by C<sup>3</sup> in the Art Gallery in 2000, is an example of such a situation.[(“Within the framework of millennial celebrations in 2000 the first event of a series of exhibitions was jointly organised by the C3 Foundation, the Art Gallery and the Association of Hungarian Artists (‘Magyar Alkotóművészek Országos Egyesülete’, MAOE) The exhibition was accompanied by a Hungarian-English catalogue (2001), which presented Hungarian media art of the present and the previous decade in international context on 300 pages. In Hungary that was the first comprehensive publication of the kind presenting works of art that build on the possibilities of new technologies, a publication which enables foreign readers to learn about the formation and the present of this most dynamically progressing segment of Hungarian contemporary art. Miklós Peternák’s introductory study is followed by an abundantly illustrated presentation of the works on show, which often contain texts written by the artists about their own works. With regard to the pioneering character of the publication we thought it would be important to put a chronology of the local media arts events together, as well as a more detailed publication of the participating artists’ professional profiles.” [[http://www.c3.hu/c3/publications/index.php?kiid=7|http://www.C3.hu/C3/publications/index.php?kiid=7]] Accessed 20.2.2022)] [(Erőss, Nikolett (ed.), //Média Modell: intermédia, új képfajták, interaktív technikák / Media Model: Intermedia, New Image Genres, Interactive Techniques//, exh.cat., Budapest: C3 Foundation, and Műcsarnok, 2001.)] |
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| | Luckily, both the video material screened in the Art Gallery and the projected map that was used in the video installation were preserved after the exhibition, with the help of which the installation can be reconstructed even if the quality of the video leaves a lot to be desired. |
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| | The question that arises, also relevant for //The Triumphal Arch//, is what can be considered an original work of art in this case, that is in case of an installation for an exhibition. The piece designed by the artist and intended to be put on view on site, or the piece that was realized then and there as adjusted to the advantages and disadvantages of the site, financial resources or lack of infrastructure? Certainly, there are different versions, and there should be, since all sites are varied, and at best installations basically possess a kind of flexibility that makes them adaptable to a given exhibition hall. What exactly happened in this specific case, or whether the artist had a sense of lack in connection with this exhibition, we will never know. |
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| | In the documentation package of the Art Gallery’s library we found a letter about the //Media Model// exhibition from László László Révész to Miklós Peternák, the curator of the exhibition.[(Exhibition documentation: ‘Média Modell’, exhibition documentation: ‘Intermédia, új képfajták, interaktív technikák’: The Art Gallery 31 August 2000-24 September. The exhibition was jointly organised by the Association of Hungarian Artists and the Art Gallery. Co-organiser: the C3 Foundation (agreements, budget, correspondence: 70 sheets of paper.)]) |
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| | The artist asks for two projectors to display the work, for a six-minute videoloop on one and for the display of an interactive computer image on the other. He would like to see both in the same size, one projected under the other. He refers to a previous appearance of the work at an exhibition in Berlin also sending pictures of that. The pictures were not included in the documentation, but they are available at the C3 website where the works on display at the //Media Model// exhibition are documented[([[http://www.mediamodell.c3.hu/|http://www.mediamodell.C3.hu/]] there is no direct link to the page, but it is available from here navigating on the participating artists and then on the right side on László László Révész’s name. Accessed 28.2.2022)], designating the place where the work was created, and the exhibition where the pictures were taken. However, some other photo documentation made at the //Media Model// exhibition will not appear here. |
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| | Description of the work on the exhibition website: |
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| | > "San the single channel video: |
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| | > Shot with one take dolly in half circular movements using simple actions of couples facing each other.These couples are identified with the action they constantly repeat.The half circled choreography of the camera and the position of the couples creates a framing structure.The first couple facing south and north is closer to the camera framing the second couple facing east and west.When from this position the camera moves to east west there is a new north south couple and so on. |
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| | > San the interactive: |
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| | > is an explanation of San with the floor plan used for the shooting as the main interface. Moving in the space and hierarchy with a structured preconception while watching the space as a two dimensional representation of that space. An explanation of watching and understanding structures based on structures such as the structure of cards, floor plan." |
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| | ''Fig. 6: Révész László László, //SAN//, 1997-1998. Exhibition in Berlin.[(Source: http://www.mediamodell.c3.hu/)]'' |
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| | We are quoting the full text because of its complexity and obscurity. In one of the photos to illustrate it you can see a still image of the video described above, in the others a two dimensional map/floor plan turned into 3D, where stills of the video participants appearing as couples were inserted in designated spots. It was the map that was probably rotatable or walkable in some way, while the inserted film stills as two dimensional cards modelled in 3D could be viewed from different directions. |
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| | This first version of the work was created in Werkleitz Gesellschaft, Germany in 1997-98 in the EMARE scholarship program. On the online interface of the Werkleitz Gesellschaft (Tornitz, D) archive there is no photo or description of it, it is only referred to as a video tape in the archive [([[https://emare.eu/works/san|https://emare.eu/works/san]] Accessed05/03/2022)]. The equipment Révész had been able to work with there, was not available here even several years later, and it would not be surprising to learn that the institution accepting the exhibition, the Art Gallery in Budapest was not technically prepared to show the interactive version of this piece. The exhibition had an outstandingly high budget at the time[(Exhibition documentation: ‘Média Modell’, exhibition documentation: ‘Intermédia, új képfajták, interaktív technikák’: The Art Gallery 31 August 2000-24 September / The exhibition was jointly organised by the Association of Hungarian Artists and the Art Gallery. Co-organiser: the C3 Foundation (agreements, budget, correspondence: 70 sheets of paper)]), however, the number of interactive pieces on show still posed a remarkable challenge in terms of the available technology. |
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| | We can learn from the description above that the video and the interactive material interpreted or we can say modelled each other. Both are maps of each other. All this would be in perfect harmony with the author’s description and interpretation, but it was only published in the printed catalogue of the Media Model exhibition, but never on the previously quoted interface. |
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| | > "The title, as well as the structure of the work, is borrowed from Bridge. San (from the French sans atout) means a play without a trump card. In such cases, it is only the hierarchy that counts; neither colour has the advantage. I used people in place of cards, in an everyday action. Always in pairs - so that the symmetry (of playing cards) would be attained, visibly, to the fullest extent possible. In this case, horizontally, rather than vertically. Between the pairs - i.e., one card - appears the next card, the next pair. This works in such a way that their succession and hierarchy derive from the symmetry of the card itself. When the camera arrives to one of the pairs, their action appears in the centre of the next playing card. This card is perpendicular to the preceding one. And so it proceeds all the way through. In other words, there are two planes in the space, perpendicular to one another. The former is oriented West-East, while the latter is North-South. The shift is continuous, with the camera movement occurring in arcs. What I have now tried to describe in words appears on the wall in the form of a projected video. I called it a map during the course of the work. I placed another map on a monitor, on a table in front of the projected image. This is truly a bird’s-eye view image: the groundplan of the video shoot. I referred to this as a map because I considered this situation as something Vermeeresque. Figures (i.e., we, the viewers) are standing at a table, perhaps even pressing on a mouse. All of this in the expectation that we can bring about some change in the projection (the map). On the wall, there really is a large image, albeit not bird’s-eye view, but nevertheless a map. A two-dimensional map is at the disposal of those standing at the three-dimensional table. There is no window in the room, so that the primary light-source is also this map. The large map "goes on its own", while the small one only aids in its interpretation."[(Erőss 2001, p. 153.)] |
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| | It also turns out from the quoted text that what we have here does not involve or does not exactly involve the work that you can find on the C<sup>3</sup> website, but rather the version that came about at the exhibition in the Art Gallery. The really confusing part here is that the change is not highlighted by being marked with another year or even a subtitle, and certainly the fact that the author equally uses the word “map” for all “projected views”, which is obviously important for the purposes of interpretation. You even have to read the subtle allusions in the text several times before you realize that some kind of a transformation happened here. |
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| | The exhibition in Budapest featured only one video on a projector screen, and below that, a little bit farther in space a simplified, two dimensional map on a small computer monitor. [(Erőss 2001, pp. 152-153.)] It is clearly visible from the pictures documenting the exhibition that this is the picture that you can find on the C3 website under the title //Videóarchívum és médiaművészeti gyűjtemény (Video Archive and Media Arts Collection)//.[(C3 Video Archive and Media Arts Collections Catalogue: [[http://www.c3.hu/collection/videomuveszet/muveszek/Revesz/cv.html#san|http://www.C3.hu/collection/videomuveszet/muveszek/Revesz/cv.html#san]] Accessed 17.2.2022)] For some reason, the documentation that appears here about the same work is totally different from what is available under the title //Media Model// exhibition in the C<sup>3</sup> database.[(http://www.mediamodell.C3.hu/ there is no direct link to the page, but it is available from here navigating on the participating artists and then on the right side on László László Révész’s name. Accessed 28.2.2022)] It is probable that this version of the work got into the collection only after the exhibition. |
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| | {{c3-15.jpg?450}} |
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| | ''Fig. 7: Révész László László, //SAN//, 1997-1998, The Art Gallery, Budapest.[(Source: //Média Modell//, exh.cat.; [[http://www.c3.hu/collection/videomuveszet/muveszek/Revesz/cv.html#san|http://www.c3.hu/collection/videomuveszet/muveszek/Revesz/cv.html#san]].)]'' |
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| | {{c3-16.jpg?450}} |
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| | ''Fig. 8: Révész László László, //SAN//, 1997-1998, The Art Gallery, Budapest.[(Source: //Média Modell//.)]'' |
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| | Besides the exhibition catalogue, the small computer escaped all other photographers’ and documenters’ attention, the exhibition was even video taped as if the monitor complementing the installation had not been there.[(Exhibition documentation: ‘Média Modell’, exhibition documentation: ‘Intermédia, új képfajták, interaktív technikák’: The Art Gallery 31 August 2000-24 September. The exhibition was jointly organised by the Association of Hungarian Artists and the Art Gallery. Co-organiser: the C3 Foundation (video tape of the opening and the exhibition: 1 ea video tape, articles, photocopied press cut: 33 sheets of paper)]) It was omitted from the picture, superficial viewers did not realize that it belonged to this work. |
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| | Technical difficulties or lack of equipment had presumably led to this solution at the exhibition in the Art Gallery, or at least it seems as if the author had had some justified or unjustified dissatisfaction regarding the situation. The last lines in the catalogue description of the work of art written by Révész may at least seem to refer to that when read from a certain perspective: |
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| | The situation would be different if those standing at the table could freely intervene into the sequence of events. But the hand that is dealt (i.e., the hierarchy) has the upper hand: it is from the dealt hand (the situation) that the appropriate play may be made. |
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| | Nevertheless, the most relevant question that arises for me here through this example is whether the original files could be found anywhere, in the artist’s own archive or among the files of those who used to work with him at the time. And we would be especially interested to know whether, based on the description and the pictures in the documentation, it would be comparatively easy with today’s technologies to reconstruct the 3D environment that meant an extremely big challenge more than twenty years ago. |
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| | === Transer === |
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| | The third and last example concerns what actually happened in practice when a former and in several locations variously documented work was presented again at an exhibition. Loss of memory, as well as negligence on the part of both the author and the institutions played a significant role in the story. |
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| | The C<sup>3</sup> exhibition in 2001 called //Science Fiction//, which was not housed by the Art Gallery in Budapest but by several smaller arts institutions, in case of Révész the //Trafó Gallery//, the artist appeared with the work entitled //Transer//. At the international exhibition called //Both Ways// organized by Ludwig Museum as part of the //Science in the City// festival on the site of Trieste Contemporanea in August 2020 a video called //Transfer// was on show. |
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| | {{c3-17.jpg?640}} |
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| | ''Fig. 9: Révész László László, //Transer//, 2001. Trieste Contemporanea, Trieste. Photo: Marino Ierman. [(Source: https://www.triestecontemporanea.it/en/2020/08/30/both-ways-hungary/)]'' |
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| | In the text of the exhibition guide, the curator, Anna Bálványos characterizes Révész’s work with this sentence: :”... his video //Transfer// is based on the idea that the movement of the Earth can be used in transport: Lyon and Szekszárd, a city in a wine region in Hungary, are on the same latitude, so wine transportation to Lyon can be easily solved according to that.”[([[https://www.triestecontemporanea.it/en/2020/08/30/both-ways-hungary/|https://www.triestecontemporanea.it/en/2020/08/30/both-ways-hungary/]] Accessed 02/03/2022)] All other texts published about the exhibition basically quote these summary type sentences word for word, because on the basis of a virtual exhibition published on the site of Trieste Contemporanea, it seems that the video was shown without any further written explanation, although in itself it can hardly be interpreted and is really obscure. |
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| | This work features as a video installation or in other places as an interactive installation illustrated by only some video stills in the 2001 C3 exhibition catalogue.[(Erőss, Nikolett, József Mélyi (eds.), //2001: science + fiction | science and fiction (‘tudomány és fikció’), Media Arts series of events by the C3 Foundation, 7-17 June 2001//, Budapest: C3, 2001, pp. 25-26.)] |
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| | We have not found detailed imagery about this exhibition, the curators, Miklós Peternák and József Mélyi unanimously recollect that detailed documentation was probably not even made at all.[(Personal interview.)] We can say, the arts press reacted in a strange way to this exhibition, just like to the one before this called Media Model. Basically, they gave the impression as if it had not been an arts exhibition. A lot was said about desirable or undesirable receptive-exhibition viewer attitudes in connection with the new genres, interactivity and video gaining ground, the inevitability of new technologies,[(Exhibition documentation: ‘Média Modell’, exhibition documentation: ‘Intermédia, új képfajták, interaktív technikák’: The Art Gallery 31 August 2000-24 September / The exhibition was jointly organised by the Association of Hungarian Artists and the Art Gallery. Co-organiser: the C3 Foundation (articles, photocopied press cut: 33 sheets of paper).)] but describing, interpreting works of art almost never happened, they were even mentioned quite rarely. |
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| | {{c3-18.jpg?640}} |
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| | ''Fig. 10: Révész László László, //Transer//, 2001.[(Source: Erőss and Mélyi 2001.)]'' |
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| | An information booklet was made for the 2001 //Science Fiction// series of events, and also a smaller catalogue in connection with the exhibition, the latter including Révész’s interpretation in its entirety, and it turns out that, in fact, we are watching a a filmed report about the scientific works of a fictitious inventor, which was made after the mysterious disappearance of the inventor and in which his disciples half convincingly, half disbelievingly tell about his plan, namely, that he would use the energy of the Earth’s rotation in some obscure way to solve international transportation on the same latitude. Transportation would work with a machinery that he invented. As an explanation for the workings of the machinery, during an experimental journey, due to the sponsorship of a film factory he would document the rotation of the Earth as a photogram made about the stars on a roll of film stretched on the ground on the complete route between Szekszárd and Lyon. |
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| | As the closing lines say: |
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| | > "The main goal of the work is the reconstruction of the researcher's character with all remaining documents. I would like to exhibit all the documents in my possession: the film, the plans, a short section of an interview, and his notes."[(László László Révész’s description of the work: Erőss and Mélyi 2001, pp 25-26.)] |
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| | Based on this, the film, the notes and the plans may have constituted the rest of the installation. There is a slight uncertainty in the sentence above, which may derive from the practice that in the aforementioned catalogues, in all three exhibition catalogues that are included in the essay the participating artists made each and every description of the works of art. These writings had obviously been made before the opening, since it was important for the organizers to complete the catalogue before the opening of the exhibition to make sure it was readable together with the exhibited pieces, since, as we have already seen it, descriptions may be really important in the interpretation process. This practice had led to the fact that some of the artists did not speak in the third person singular, but spoke their own voices in the descriptions. |
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| | Révész plays with this role. He does not introduce himself as an artist, but as a modest researcher and archiver possessing documents about a mysterious researcher. As such, he remarks modestly what he has in his possession and that he would like to show it all. However, since he is playing a role it is not obvious if he really owns the “documents”, he really made these works of art. But at this point the two roles meet and among the lines the artist reveals himself because in the catalogue he reuses the plan of his installation, a proposal. As a result of this nice and witty solution this description also becomes part of the work, in a certain sense. Let me note here that even the work itself deals with the topical questions of documenting, archiving and making collections, among other topics. |
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| | Anyway, whether the above documents and the “original” experimental film material had been completed or not, they were not put on show in Trieste, and since the curator had only been able to see the shorter one of the two catalogues[(Erőss and Mélyi 2001, p. 12. It is confusing that the details of the two publications are identical. There is only one program guide here. [[https://adt.arcanum.com/hu/view/MuveszetiKatalogusok_2001_ScienceFiction_095_072/?query=science fiction c3&pg=18&layout=s|https://adt.arcanum.com/hu/view/MuveszetiKatalogusok_2001_ScienceFiction_095_072/?query=science%20fiction%20C3&pg=18&layout=s]] Accessed 10.3.2022)] that did not contain the description in full and the artist had not informed him about that either, he could not find out that the Transer originally was the name of the transporting vehicle that exploited the movement of the Earth. The title of the work of art also comes from this, so it is not Transfer but Transer! |
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| | This situation gives rise to numerous questions and one of them is about the case when the video element of a work becomes part of a media arts archive or digital collection what happens to the objects that possibly belong to the work in the installation, they obviously cannot be stored there, and since they cannot be copied they will still remain in the possession of the artist. Hence the archived work of art will necessarily become fragmentary. |
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| | The previous three cases deliver several lessons. The primary task, which is already in progress, is definitely to collate all C<sup>3</sup> documentation that can be found in different places and to connect it with other archives and institutions concerned. C<sup>3</sup> plays an especially crucial role in executing this task, because right now its database in Hungary is unique in the sense that it concerns exhibitions that do not belong only to a single institution like the Art Gallery, but it has extensive information about the works of the previous generation’s most important Hungarian media artists from the beginning. |
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| | While regrettable from the point of view of the Révész oeuvre, the main lessons that derive from the situation caused by his death do not involve posterior documentation of this specific oeuvre as the most urgent task to complete. |
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| | It is possible, moreover it is necessary, of course, to find the people the artist worked with at the time to use their memories, descriptions or probably objects (documents) until the heritage can be researched again. It is more important, however, to avoid similar situations in the future and ask for the help of contemporary living artists to document their works better. Several aspects emerged in the course of what has been described above, several points of reference that may help define directions and preferences for the work to be done. |
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| | The basic question is what we expect of an archive that is meant to document and preserve media art works, the initial history and most significant works of the genre and make them consumable for the next generations to come. In many cases it turns out that even if the works can be preserved in the form of original files, their playback is hindered by more and more obstacles. While continuously converting them to the latest technologies seems to be an uphill struggle, preserving them in their original forms may require operating ever more extended museum equipment. |
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| | Still, when an exhibition situation like the one above arises, it turns out that one of the most important bits of information about a work is what should appear and how at an exhibition so that it makes sense and becomes approachable for today’s audience. The archive in its present form, unfortunately, hardly ever provides an answer to this question. |
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| | We would deem it good practice if the artists whose works are listed in the archive and who can still be contacted today were asked about what they consider necessary to be included in the introduction of their works. What minimum requirement is needed to make their work appear. We do not mean technology here, but for example in the case of //SAN// the significance of interactivity, the map view, or how important it is for the projections to appear in the same size. Likewise, in the case of e.g. //Transer// it would be important to know what belongs closely to this work of art. What texts, possibly objects or presentation-projection methods form a part of it. |
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| | Ideally, descriptions like these could also be supplemented by the former exhibition photo documentation. Such images and views or descriptions, in my opinion, would be just as important as the technical requirements of the work, since it is more probable to create the reconstruction with the latest technologies from the view itself rather than reconstructing the former scene and especially the former effect based on only the technical requirements. At this point there is also the concern of how much a kind of a retro feeling proves to be useful or even acceptable, which the appearance of old equipment necessarily bears, in case of works of art that gave a glimpse into a futuristic world at their time. |
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| ==== Home Page: an investigation into preserving the net art collection of C³ Foundation ==== | ==== Home Page: an investigation into preserving the net art collection of C³ Foundation ==== |
| {{c3-3.png?640}} | {{c3-3.png?640}} |
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| ''Alexei Shulgin's //Form//, 1997, on //Home Page//, 2022.'' | ''Fig. 11: Alexei Shulgin's //Form//, 1997, on //Home Page//, 2022. Source: C3 Foundation.'' |
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| The net art collection has been created in line with C³'s original aims: to promote and explore the potential of the internet for the general public. There are three categories of net art works in the collection: 1) works created as part of an international residency programme, 2) works created by local artists, and 3) websites that are not created with artistic intent but retain some artistic value (this category includes websites created to document exhibitions, conferences, radio stations, video collections, etc.). As with most early net art works, their interdisciplinary nature makes them difficult to categorise. While Alexei Shulgin's //Form// (1997) is an example of a classic net art work,[(http://www.c3.hu/collection/form/)] the same cannot be said of //Ctrl-Space// (1999) by the Dutch-Belgian artist duo Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans (JoDi). This is listed under web projects on the C³ website, but in reality it is not a net art piece, but a downloadable file which was then uploaded into a computer game called Quake to create a unique gaming environment. //Ctrl-Space// is described as a network game that can be accessed and played on the internet, but the definition of a network game has changed significantly since 1999 and means something different. Another example of an interdisciplinary net art work is //Lapsus Memoriae// (2002) by urtica (Violeta Vojvodic + Eduard Balaz), an online memory game.[(https://urtica.org/artworks/lapsus-memoriae.html)] | The net art collection has been created in line with C³'s original aims: to promote and explore the potential of the internet for the general public. There are three categories of net art works in the collection: 1) works created as part of an international residency programme, 2) works created by local artists, and 3) websites that are not created with artistic intent but retain some artistic value (this category includes websites created to document exhibitions, conferences, radio stations, video collections, etc.). As with most early net art works, their interdisciplinary nature makes them difficult to categorise. While Alexei Shulgin's //Form// (1997) is an example of a classic net art work,[(http://www.c3.hu/collection/form/)] the same cannot be said of //Ctrl-Space// (1999) by the Dutch-Belgian artist duo Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans (JoDi). This is listed under web projects on the C³ website, but in reality it is not a net art piece, but a downloadable file which was then uploaded into a computer game called Quake to create a unique gaming environment. //Ctrl-Space// is described as a network game that can be accessed and played on the internet, but the definition of a network game has changed significantly since 1999 and means something different. Another example of an interdisciplinary net art work is //Lapsus Memoriae// (2002) by urtica (Violeta Vojvodic + Eduard Balaz), an online memory game.[(https://urtica.org/artworks/lapsus-memoriae.html)] |
| {{c3-4.png?640}} | {{c3-4.png?640}} |
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| ''Olia Lialina, //Agatha Appears//, 1997.'' | ''Fig. 12: Olia Lialina, //Agatha Appears//, 1997. Source: C3 Foundation.'' |
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| > "To Netscape4.0 and after only | > "To Netscape4.0 and after only |
| {{c3-5.jpg?640}} | {{c3-5.jpg?640}} |
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| ''//Home Page// in Netscape, one of the most popular browsers of the 1990s. Graphics and concept by Márk Fridvalszki.'' | ''Fig. 13: //Home Page// in Netscape, one of the most popular browsers of the 1990s. Graphics and concept by Márk Fridvalszki. Source: C3 Foundation.'' |
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| The site starts with a rotating globe, which suggests the idea of the internet as a way to connect the world. These pre-pages were also a common feature of early websites, usually containing information or a simple 'Enter' button to give the underlying webpage some time to load. After entering, visitors are faced with the main menu. In structuring the menu items, we were careful to ensure that they were poetic but informative, that the topics were distinguishable even if related (e.g. there are links between the 'Cyberspace' and 'Grid' pages, but their focus is noticeably different), and that the dual--local and universal--references of the project worked well together. A good example of this is when a timeline is superimposed over the dot-com balloon graph to give a sense of the interplay between the Hungarian and wider context, and that Hungary was indeed relatively early in terms of internet access and net art. | The site starts with a rotating globe, which suggests the idea of the internet as a way to connect the world. These pre-pages were also a common feature of early websites, usually containing information or a simple 'Enter' button to give the underlying webpage some time to load. After entering, visitors are faced with the main menu. In structuring the menu items, we were careful to ensure that they were poetic but informative, that the topics were distinguishable even if related (e.g. there are links between the 'Cyberspace' and 'Grid' pages, but their focus is noticeably different), and that the dual--local and universal--references of the project worked well together. A good example of this is when a timeline is superimposed over the dot-com balloon graph to give a sense of the interplay between the Hungarian and wider context, and that Hungary was indeed relatively early in terms of internet access and net art. |
| {{c3-6.png?640}} | {{c3-6.png?640}} |
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| ''//Home Page//, www.homepage.C3.hu.'' | ''Fig. 14: //Home Page//, www.homepage.C3.hu. Source: C3 Foundation.'' |
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| Under ‘Technoculture’, an interdisciplinary understanding of the word is demonstrated: | Under ‘Technoculture’, an interdisciplinary understanding of the word is demonstrated: |
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| Flóra Barkóczi uses Bourriaud's term 'dee-jaying' to describe the creative process that results in //Home Page//, where the artist creates a work by reorganising or re-contextualising existing artistic practices.[(Barkóczi, Flóra, "Utópista „deejaying” a posztinternet kultúrában – A C3 'Home Page' című projektjéről", //Artportal//, 2022. https://artportal.hu/magazin/utopista-deejaying-a-posztinternet-kulturaban-a-c3-home-page-cimu-projektjerol/. Bourriaud, Nicolas, //Postproduction//, Sternberg Press, 2006.)] By presenting fragments of early net art culture in context, using them almost as raw material rather than archival relics, the result is a kind of remix that questions the legacy of this culture and makes connections with contemporary artworks. //Home Page// remains an open platform with the potential for expansion. All aspiring DJs are welcome to create a new remix. | Flóra Barkóczi uses Bourriaud's term 'dee-jaying' to describe the creative process that results in //Home Page//, where the artist creates a work by reorganising or re-contextualising existing artistic practices.[(Barkóczi, Flóra, "Utópista „deejaying” a posztinternet kultúrában – A C3 'Home Page' című projektjéről", //Artportal//, 2022. https://artportal.hu/magazin/utopista-deejaying-a-posztinternet-kulturaban-a-c3-home-page-cimu-projektjerol/. Bourriaud, Nicolas, //Postproduction//, Sternberg Press, 2006.)] By presenting fragments of early net art culture in context, using them almost as raw material rather than archival relics, the result is a kind of remix that questions the legacy of this culture and makes connections with contemporary artworks. //Home Page// remains an open platform with the potential for expansion. All aspiring DJs are welcome to create a new remix. |
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| | Part of this essay was translated from Hungarian by Zsuzsa Feladó. |
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| ~~REFNOTES~~ | ~~REFNOTES~~ |
| ~~NOTOC~~ | ~~NOTOC~~ |
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| | ---- |
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| | See also the [[c3|video presentation]] by Anna Tüdős and Márta Czene in this volume. |
