International Symposium: How do you do it?

Abstract: Transmitting Embodied Knowledge and Social Practices

There is a long tradition to distinguish two types of knowledge: ‘knowing that’ and ‘knowing how’ (Ryle 1949). While ‘knowing that’ refers to factual knowledge that is easily accessible and can be put into words, ‘knowing how’ refers to ways of doing things in the material world, it is rather implicit and resides in the body. This paper will firstly address key notions that have been developed to refer to the latter kind of knowledge, highlighting it’s ‘tacit’ (Polanyi 1966), ‘procedural/performative’ (Anderson 2009) and ‘embodied’ (Fuchs 2016) character. Secondly, the process of transmitting embodied knowledge will be considered. More specifically, the paper will focus on social practices (Deppermann et al. 2016) that are used to transmit embodied knowledge in instructional contexts (Ehmer/Brône 2021). The paper adopts the perspective of multimodal interaction analysis (Stivers/Sidnell 2005) and uses data from dance instruction.

Literature

• Anderson, John R. (2009): Cognitive Psychology and Its Implications, New York: Worth Publishers.
• Deppermann, Arnulf/Feilke, Helmuth/Linke, Angelika (2016): Sprachliche und kommunikative Praktiken: Eine Annäherung aus linguistischer Sicht. In: Deppermann, Arnulf/Feilke, Helmuth/Linke, Angelika (Hgg.): Sprachliche und kommunikative Praktiken, Berlin: De Gruyter, 1–23.
• Ehmer, Oliver/Brône, Geert (2021): „Instructing embodied knowledge: multimodal approaches to interactive practices for knowledge constitution“, Linguistics Vanguard 7 (s4), 1-12.
• Fuchs, Thomas (2016): Embodied Knowledge – Embodied Memory. In: Rinofner-Kreidl, Sonja/Wiltsche, Harald A. (Hgg.): Analytic and Continental Philosophy. Methods and Perspectives. Proceedings of the 37th International Wittgenstein Symposium, Berlin: De Gruyter, 215–229.
• Polanyi, Michael (1966): The Tacit Dimension, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Ryle, Gilbert (1949): The concept of mind, London: Hutchinson.
• Stivers, Tanya/Sidnell, Jack (2005): „Introduction: Multimodal interaction“, Semiotica 2005 (156), 1-20.

Bio: Oliver Ehmer

Oliver Ehmer is professor in Romance Linguistics at the University of Osnabrück (Germany). His research focuses on language in its context of use, mainly in oral communication but also in written media. He works with interactional, cognitive and usage-based linguistic approaches.

Abstract: Mobilising Embodied Knowledge from the Museums Perspective

The Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg was founded in 1994. It has a high level of staff continuity. Over the last three decades some staff have cared for and installed complex installations many times. Several, however, will be retiring soon. Their knowledge is a powerful resource for the museum. In view of the collection, we have to ask how we can shape generational change so their knowledge, their ways of working, can be mobilised, documented, transmitted, and reused. 

Currently we are trying to find ways to realize that task. As daily practices and organisational structures do not emphasise the transfer of embodied knowledge, retaining and even localising the information scattered at various structural and organisational levels is a challenge. We will therefore initiate a process to map it, guided by several questions about embodied knowledge: What does it look like? Where do we need embodied knowledge? How and when did it enter the museum? How is it remembered? Does it change? Where does it reside? When is it put into practice and by whom? We will look at internal but also at external actors that shape embodied knowledge in the museum. As a work-in-progress-example from museum practice, the contribution will focus on the process of uncovering and mapping knowledge.

Bio: Elena Engelbrechter

Elena Engelbrechter is a curator at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. She studied art history, philosophy, and art technology at the University of Osnabrück and the Technical University of Berlin. Alongside jobs as a student research assistant at the university, she worked for the Kurt and Ernst Schwitters Foundation in Hannover and the Olbricht Foundation in Berlin.

At the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg and before, she worked continuously on the realization and conception of various exhibition projects on artistic positions in contemporary art with international partners. Together with director Andreas Beitin, she recently co-curated the exhibition Re-Inventing Piet. Mondrian and the Consequences.

Having been involved in the realization of the catalogue of the collection as well as exhibitions of the collection at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, going forward, she will increasingly focus on the various fields of collection work within the institution.

Bio: Artemis Rüstau

Artemis Rüstau is the conservator at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. She holds a degree in painting conservation from the HfBK Dresden and completed a postgraduate internship at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, Cambridge University.

She is a member of the steering committee of the working group Modern and Contemporary art of the VDR (German conservation association). At Maastricht University, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Renée van de Vall and Dr. Vivian van Saaze, she is writing her PhD “Private Collections as Care-takers” as part of the The Marie Skłodowska-Curie funded NACCA project.

Abstract: Beyond technological literacy: Finding a common language

For the preservation of technology-based artworks, conservators are faced with the challenge of understanding the underlying technology of the work. The knowledge of early, now obsolete technologies is in danger of becoming lost. In addition, artworks might be entirely or partly custom-designed, built and programmed by artists, by their assistants or third-party contractors. Presenting examples from both conservation and teaching practice, I explore how finding a common language, the commitment to building trust and understanding the artistic process are key for the transfer of knowledge.

Bio: Agathe Jarczyk

Agathe Jarczyk joined the Guggenheim’s conservation staff in 2020. Prior to her Guggenheim appointment, Jarczyk was a lecturer at the conservation program at the Bern University of the Arts, Switzerland and a guest lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria.

In 2008 Jarczyk founded the Studio for Video Conservation serving numerous museums, artists and archives in Switzerland and internationally. Jarczyk is a founding co-organizer of the conference series “TechFocus”. She holds a diploma degree in Conservation of Modern Materials and Media from the Bern University of the Arts, Switzerland.

Abstract: Documentation and Conservation of software- and data-based art from the studio practice. Works of Studio Daniel Canogar

With over 30 years of work in the intersection of art and technology, Daniel Canogar and his studio consider documentation and conservation of its work a cornerstone to the long-term sustainability of the work and the preservation of its legacy as much as to provide collectors and institutions the information needed for the future live of the artworks. This presentation will show the strategies and protocols of the studio for different kinds of works, how it has been developed during the years, especially since the develop of the studio practice in the field of computer- and data-based artworks, through the research of its Technical Director, Diego Mellado Martinez.

Bio: Diego Mellado Martínez

Diego Mellado Martínez is an engineer for new media arts and a new media arts restoration researcher with a strong focus on technical solutions and documentation models for software-based artworks.

Since 2010 he has used his background in communications engineering (MSc degree) to design and produce new media artworks for several artists. Since 2013 he is project manager at Daniel Canogar's studio, where he is in charge of public art commissions.

In 2020, he graduated from the MediaArtHistories MA program with a master thesis on computer-based art conservation. He has taken part of AIC EMG as presenter and Program Chair, as part of the faculty of the Media Art Preservation Institute and MediaArtHistories programs at Donau University Krems and ENCRyM Mexico digital conservation workshops.

He also collaborates with several Spanish collections such a Centro de Arte 2 de Mayo or Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

Abstract: Transmission of Knowledge in the Context of Collaborative Conservation

In the field of contemporary art conservation, the incorporation of non-stable materials in sculptures or object-based installations has sparked a vibrant discourse on 'replication' or 'remaking' as potential preservation strategies. For artworks created using casting molds, 'replication' performed without the presence of the artist requires the prior transmission of both explicit and implicit knowledge. 
The knowledge transfer process employed in the case study “Washing Day” (1976) by artist Renate Bertlmann is being compared to the educational framework for developing conservation skills. The cast latex sheets required to assemble the installation were in advanced state of degradation. In collaboration with the artist, new natural rubber skins were produced by students of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2014, using the original casting molds. Working closely with the artist facilitated the transmission of implicit procedural knowledge. The subsequent reflection on the learning process emphasizes the importance of a multi-perspective approach in documentation.

Bio: Martina Pfenninger Lepage

Graduating in 2004 with a degree in Conservation of Modern Materials and Media from the Bern Academy of the Arts, Martina Pfenninger Lepage worked at Documenta 11 and Schaulager in Basel. She served as a Case Researcher and Assistant Co-organizer for the EU-project Inside Installations at Restaurierungszentrum Düsseldorf (RED).

From 2007 to 2020, she held the position of Head of the Studio for Contemporary Art Conservation at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Simultaneously, she contributed to the preservation efforts at Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21) as a part-time conservator.

Since 2020, she has been co-leading the program in Conservation of Modern Materials and Media, concurrently serving as Head of the Master’s study program in Conservation at the Bern Academy of the Arts (HKB). Her research focus lies on installation art and contemporary
sculptures.

Abstract: Legacy assets: embodied knowledge and the financial assetization of contemporary artists’ estates

A legacy asset in financial terms is an obsolete asset that has been kept on the accounting books for an extended period of time and runs the risk of becoming a liability. Many contemporary artists’ estates also face risks of obsolescence, the necessary transfer of embodied knowledge about ephemeral artistic practices being one of their liabilities. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the estates of contemporary artists from private market actors, such as gallerists, legal consultants, and financial advisors. Private investment in the maintenance of artists’ estates beyond their immediate marketability – keeping them on the books for an extended period so to speak – may make conservation possible in the first place. However, when artists’ estates are acquired and controled as financial assets, that is with an eye to generating continuous (future) streams of income, this may have an impact on the transfer of relevant embodied knowledge. For instance, art historians, conservators, and curators embedded in public institutions may not be granted ready access because of copyright concerns. Comparing imperatives of conservation with the repertoires of financial estate planning, I inquire into the associated risks of obsolescence: when does the financial assetization of artists estates become a liability, and for whom?

Bio: Christoph Rausch

Dr. Christoph Rausch is associate professor of Economic Humanities at University College Maastricht (UCM).

He co-founded (and serves on the steering committees of) the Maastricht Centre for Arts and Culture, Conservation and Heritage (MACCH) and the Maastricht Experimental Research in and through the Arts Network (MERIAN).

Dr. Rausch’s current research is on the global relations between art and finance in the 21st century. Studying the emergence and proliferation of novel types of art storage spaces, including so-called freeports in offshore financial centers, he asks how an increasing financialization of art in and through storage problematizes public and private relations of ownership and display, speculation and risk, as well as regulation and taxation.

As Principal Investigator (PI) Rausch leads the research consortium Priceless Assets of Subversion: Financial Crime and the Valuation of Unique Goods (PRICELESS).

Abstract: Navigating Change: Transmitting Artistic Legacies Across Generations through Embodied Acts of Care

Artists' estates are becoming increasingly important as repositories of knowledge for the preservation of contemporary art, distinct from traditional memory institutions such as museums, archives, and libraries. This shift represents a significant change in how contemporary art is preserved, both structurally and practically. The individuals responsible for caring for artistic legacies embody a decentralized source of knowledge. In confronting the challenges of managing contemporary artists' legacies, there is an urgent need for innovative skills aimed at transferring embodied knowledge and maintaining non-institutional relationships. The presentation will focus on the experience of caring for the estate of Anna Oppermann as an already second-generation caretaker. Moreover, it will provide curatorial insights into Oppermann´s recent retrospective at Bundeskunsthalle Bonn and the process of passing on the posthumous preservation practice to the next generation of stakeholders.

Bio: Anna Schäffler

Dr. Anna Schäffler is an art historian, author and curator. Her research on the contemporary preservation of art and cultural assets includes theory and practice at the intersection of art history, conservation, and curating.

Together with media conservator Andreas Weisser, she advises artists, private and public institutions on long-term preservation strategies. In addition to artistic estates, another focus of Anna's interests is on commons in the context of art, activism, and urban development. She curated the exhibition "Anna Oppermann. A Retroperspective" at Bundeskunsthalle Bonn in 2023.

Her most recent books include "The Art of Preservation. Anna Oppermann's Ensembles, Contemporary Conservation and Estate Practice in Transition" (Munich 2021) and "Networks of Care. Politics of Preserving and Discarding" (Berlin 2022). More information about her research on www.annaschaeffler.info.

Abstract: Collecting Expertise in the Artist’s Studio

Artworks are often the result of a messy cycle of experimentation and failure. Through a unique combination of science, material knowledge, and art history, the conservator seems to be particularly privileged and well positioned to respectfully engage with the nonlinear creative process. Where the artist develops an idiosyncratic material knowledge and the skills to express their ideas in the studio, the conservator can contribute an empirical explanation for their findings and offer technological advice for future projects. Through regular studio visits and conversations with the artist, their assistants, or fabricators, the conservator gains insight into not only the materiality of an artwork, but also into the intangible and intuitive aspects of their artistic practice as a whole. This talk focuses on the reciprocal transfer of knowledge between artist and conservator over the course of a long working relationship.

Bio: Christian Scheidemann

Christian Scheidemann is a conservator of contemporary art and founder of Contemporary Conservation, one of the most renowned conservation studios for the preservation of contemporary art in New York.

The studio specialises in developing strategies for methodology and technology in the conservation of complex artworks. Working closely with artists since the 1990s, Scheidemann has developed methods and strategies for preserving non-traditional materials in art, such as preserving doughnuts for Robert Gober, elephant dung for Chris Ofili, potatoes for Matthew Barney, and fruit peels for Zoe Leonard.