Performance/Time-Based Media Research
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PERFORMANCE DOCUMENTATION ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barthes, Roland. (1977). Image Music Text. New York: Hill and Wang.

Birringer, Johannes. (2000). Performance On The Edge: Transformations of Culture. London: The Athlone Press.

+ documentation of collective memory and physical interaction in book format. as he initially states, his book could have easily become a multimedia work. while the works themselves may be of interest, in the context of my research they serve as case studies of documented performances and installations

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb & Joseph M. Williams (2003). The Craft of Research. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Debord, Guy (1995). The Society of the Spectacle. New York: Zone Books.

Depocas, Alain (2003).”Goals of the Variable Media Network.” Permanence Through Change: The Variable Media Approach. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications.

+PDF document, downloadable from <http://variablemedia.net/e/introduction/>
Organization whose goals are to “develop and refine the variable media paradigm's methodology, standards, tools, and output for the preservation of artwork of an ephemeral nature.”
describes the database used by the network, which can be utilized and tested by affiliated member organizations. (perhaps AVT could become a member and contribute to this research)

Dixon, Steve. "Digits, Discourse, and Documentation: Performance Research and Hypermedia". TDR: The Drama Review, Vol 43, Number 1 (T161), Spring1999, pp 152 - 175. <http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=5174011F-1128-4722-BCDF-A4905A977AAE&ttype=6&tid=2673>

+article available via MIT Press site for $20 fee.

Goldberg, RoseLee. (2001). Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present. London: Thames & Hudson.

Goldberg, RoseLee. (1998). Performance: Live Art Since 1960. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

+ foreword by Laurie Anderson. Refers to the myth and ephemerality of live art. Initially, she believed that, as the work was about time and memory, it should only live on in the memory of the viewers. But to prevent its disappearance, live art must be documented through film or audio recording, thus becoming a new work, a new art form.

Hanhardt, John G. (2003).”The Challenge of Variable Media.” Permanence Through Change: The Variable Media Approach. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications.

+ considers the history of film and media arts as a critical element to understanding modern visual culture. The museum as critical and intellectual space is charged with the responsibility of preservation and development of continued artistic practice.
Kaye, Nick. (2002). Site-specific Art: Performance, Place and Documentation. London: Routledge.

McCarthy, Kevin F., Elizabeth Heneghan Ondaatje. (2002). From Celluloid to Cyberspace: The Media Arts and the Changing Arts World. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

+ regarding the topic of "Emulation," McCarthy addresses the difficulty posed by the impending obsolescence of formats, equipment and software. Of particular concern is the equipment used by the artist. Beyond preserving the material (film, video, audio recording) how do we guarantee the future ability to replay that media. (p.59)

Mirzoeff, Nicholas, ed (2002). The Visual Culture Reader. London: Routledge.

Phelan, Peggy (1993). “The Ontology of Performance,” Unmarked: The Politics of Performance. New York: Routledge.

Richter, Hans (1997). Dada: Art and Anti-art. New York: Thames and Hudson.

Stooss, Toni and Thomas Kellein, eds (1993). Nam June Paik: Video Time - Video Space. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

+ mostly dedicated to Paik's numerous video installations. includes several interviews regarding his work.

Stringari, Carol (2003).”Beyond 'Conservative': The Conservator's Role in Variable Media Preservation.” Permanence Through Change: The Variable Media Approach. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications.

+ as the title suggest, the role of the conservator is described. The role of the artist is also stressed as an integral part of documentation. As an active participant, the artist can minimize any significant alteration or misinterpretation of the original intent.

Tarkovsky, Andrey (1997). “Imprinted Time.” Sculpting in Time: Reflections on the Cinema. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

+ considers “time” as a cultural medium and a necessary element for defining events, actions and human memory. As “the present slips and vanishes like sand between the fingers,” the past becomes more permanent, a chronological and categorical reference to our experience.

Wallis, Brian, ed (1984). Art After Modernism: Rethinking Representation. New York : New Museum of Contemporary Art.

WEB SOURCES

“AHDS Performing Arts”. Department of Theatre, Film and Television, University of Glasgow. <http://appserver.pads.arts.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects/PadsBrowser.woa>.

Council on Library and Information Resources. <http://www.clir.org/>.

+ Administrative home of the Digital Library Federation. <http://www.diglib.org/>.
serves as an effective working model of searchable archived information site. emphasis on preservation and long-term accessibility.

Giatras, Argyris. “How might performance be seen to challenge the epistemological promise of the document?” <http://www.homestead.com/Niki_Konstantinou/files/argyris.html>

+ considers performance art as an ephemeral experience with a definite end, relegated to the memories of the audience unless it is somehow documented. And even so, this documentation may convey the basic theme and appearnce but cannot replace the work itself.

Ollendorff, Guillaume (12 November 1999). “The Art of Sorting Out: Chris Marker's Immemory”. <http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/shorts/reviews/rev0300/gobr9a.htm>

+ review of Marker's foray into the world of CD-ROM. Considers memory as our “perception of time”. To Marker, multimedia is a method of archiving his own work. Yet the multimedia element becomes more than a mere archive or recollection; it becomes a new work in itself. i.e. Documentation as an act of creation.

Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Resources. <http://www.rlg.org/longterm/oais.html>.

“Research and Documentation Projects.” 2002. <http://www.fng.fi/fng/rootnew/en/kka/kka-esittely-projektit.htm>.

Rinehart, Richard. “Preserving the Rhizome ArtBase.” September 2002. <http://rhizome.org/artbase/report.htm>.

+ provides excellent structure for the development and implementation of metadata standards in performance art documentation. Also considers the importance of developing consistent emulation strategies.

Rinehart, Richard. Theatre Library Association Symposium Handout. <http://tla.library.unt.edu/rhineharthandout.htm>.

Van Baron, Judith, Ph.D. “Documentation as Conservation: The Process of Becoming and Sustaining Art”. <http://aic.stanford.edu/aic2000/vanBaron.html>.

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