Book Section
Amy Brost
Reconciling Authenticity and Reenactment
An Art Conservation Perspective
Locating authenticity in artworks that are remade (all or in part) or re-performed over time presents a unique challenge for art conservators, whose activities have traditionally been oriented toward caring for the material aspects of art objects. The paper offers a brief overview of perspectives on authenticity and discusses various theoretical models that have been developed to conceptualize how media, installation, and performance artworks are displayed and cared for over time. These include the score/performance model, the concepts of autographicity and allographicity, the concept of iteration, and authenticity as a practice. The author proposes a theoretical model based on the ritual aspects of presenting artworks, arguing that authenticity, repetition, and community participation can be reconciled within a ritual context.
Keywords: art conservation; time-based media; ritual
| Title |
Reconciling Authenticity and Reenactment
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| Subtitle |
An Art Conservation Perspective
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| Author(s) |
Amy Brost
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| Identifier | |
| Description |
Locating authenticity in artworks that are remade (all or in part) or re-performed over time presents a unique challenge for art conservators, whose activities have traditionally been oriented toward caring for the material aspects of art objects. The paper offers a brief overview of perspectives on authenticity and discusses various theoretical models that have been developed to conceptualize how media, installation, and performance artworks are displayed and cared for over time. These include the score/performance model, the concepts of autographicity and allographicity, the concept of iteration, and authenticity as a practice. The author proposes a theoretical model based on the ritual aspects of presenting artworks, arguing that authenticity, repetition, and community participation can be reconciled within a ritual context.
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| Is Part Of | |
| Place |
Berlin
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| Publisher |
ICI Berlin Press
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| Date |
4 January 2022
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| Subject |
art conservation
time-based media
ritual
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| Rights |
© by the author(s)
Except for images or otherwise noted, this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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| Language |
en-GB
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| page start |
183
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| page end |
192
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| Source |
Over and Over and Over Again: Reenactment Strategies in Contemporary Arts and Theory, ed. by Cristina Baldacci, Clio Nicastro, and Arianna Sforzini, Cultural Inquiry, 21 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2022), pp. 183–92
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References
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- Brost, Amy, ‘From “Certificates of Authenticity” to Authentic Iterations in Variable Media Art’ (unpublished master’s thesis, New York University, 2016)
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- Laurenson, Pip, ‘Authenticity, Change and Loss in the Conservation of Time-Based Media Installations’, Tate Papers, 6 (Autumn 2006), n.p. <http://www.tate.org.uk/download/file/fid/7401> [accessed 17 July 2019]
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- Saaze, Vivian van, ‘Authenticity in Practice: An Ethnographic Study into the Preservation of One Candle by Nam June Paik’, in Art Conservation and Authenticities: Material, Concept, Context, ed. by Erma Hermens and Tina Fiske (London: Archetype Publications, 2009), pp. 190–98
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- Wharton, Glenn, and Harvey Molotch, ‘The Challenge of Installation Art’, in Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas, and Uncomfortable Truths, ed. by Alison Bracker and Alison Richmond (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2009), pp. 210–22
Cite as:
Amy Brost, ‘Reconciling Authenticity and Reenactment: An Art Conservation Perspective’, in Over and Over and Over Again: Reenactment Strategies in Contemporary Arts and Theory, ed. by Cristina Baldacci, Clio Nicastro, and Arianna Sforzini, Cultural Inquiry, 21 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2022), pp. 183-92 <https://doi.org/10.37050/ci-21_19>