“The Gallery is Ephemeral”: Exploring the Intersection of Archival Practice and Technology in Artist-Run Initiatives

McMurchy, G; Taylor, N

doi:10.1145/3635636.3656208

“The Gallery is Ephemeral”: Exploring the Intersection of Archival Practice and Technology in Artist-Run Initiatives

Lookup NU author(s): Gareth McMurchy, Dr Nick Taylor ORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

Artist-Run Initiatives (ARIs) are grassroots art galleries and project spaces that support artists by providing space for creative expression, experimentation, and exposure. While culturally important, these non-institutional collectives exist in precarious circumstances, with limited access to funding, heavy dependence on volunteers, and uncertainty in securing permanent space. We are particularly interested in how these issues intersect with ARIs’ uses of technology in archival practice. Through interviews with ARI committee members, our findings show intriguing perceptions of technological influence on archival practice, with concerns over reliance on cloud storage services, difficulties of digitising archival content, and how to present archived material on various digital platforms. We conclude with discussion on how future research might help support these communities to develop archival practices that are better suited to their practice.