Interview and artist participation

Collaboration with the artist has been a fundamental part of this conservation project.
The contact with Suchan Kinoshita has been direct and her participation has been active.
She has shown great interest in the preservation of the objects that are part of the installation and has worked with us in the two different phases of the process: first defining guidelines for the preservation of the artwork, and then defining guidelines for its presentation.

In working with her, we had the opportunity to film the process of preparing one of the objects that form the installation: together with her, we created a new curtain in PUR foam and she provided the museum with the instruments that were needed to copy the objects. This fascinating opportunity to closely observe Kinoshita at work has been of central importance for our own work.
It has allowed us to understand how she works and to study the relationship she establishes with her production and materials. In addition, it has enabled us to define some of the characteristics of the objects – a key requirement for reproducing them in the future. The collaboration with the artist has also been of essential importance for writing a handbook describing the procedures to be carried out by the performer and the time needed for the performance of each procedure. Her cooperation has enabled us to make our work more complete and correct.

The conservation of a work such as Voorstelling requires a real understanding of its meaning and of the will that enabled the artist to achieve it. Preserving and re-presenting such a work in the future without taking these aspects into account does not make sense. The artwork preserved and later shown again could become something entirely different, loosing its true meaning. The competences of the collaborating parties are different, though both are important. A conservator often has a clearer and more exact vision of the conservation possibilities and needs, but he or she obviously cannot have the same understanding of the artwork that the artist has. When contact with the artist is possible, this contact must be pursued in an effort to fully understand the concept of his or her production.

The interview with Suchan Kinoshita was recorded on two different occasions. The first part, recorded in January, 2006, was organized in collaboration with the performer. The second part was recorded in March, 2006, on the occasion of the making of the film on the creation of the PUR foam curtain.

Below is a summary of the main points covered in the first interview, which includes questions and answers closely related to Voorstelling’s preservation and presentation. The first interview is followed by a second interview and then a series of the artist’s reflections on the work and on our conversation in March.

The text is introduced with the title “Conversation with the artist”. It seemed more accurate to define the dialogue held with the artist thus in terms of its informal and directed nature. It was in fact more a moment of encounter and collaboration for the purpose of discussing and defining certain guidelines than just an interview.

The artist’s guidelines concern:

1. possible solutions for the presentation and arrangement of the space, including consideration of the best spatial solutions for future installations;
2. information on past installations;
3. information on the origin and nature of the different objects;
4. the positions and arrangement of the objects in the installation space, including the fixing of some of them;
5. how to deal with the decay of or damage to the objects;
6. the possibility of duplication and/or replacement of the objects.

The answers given by the artist served as the basis for the definition of a record for the re-installation and conservation of the work. The two interviews were recorded on a mini-disc and are conserved at the SMAK. The second interview was filmed on a DVCAM. The video is preserved at the SMAK.

Remark: these transcripts are edited


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