Against Dissociation: Documentation as the Object of Care

Often durational, process or/and concept-based, transient and participatory, contemporary art understood as a paradigm of artistic practice calls for new approaches to the institutional collecting and all related practices including conservation. The intangible agents of contemporary artwork often exist as, and thus might be transmitted only through various kinds of documents. The resulting documentation does not only contain information about artwork’s provenance, history, meanings and character but it hosts an important part of the artwork itself. As decisions about the future presentations and hence interpretations of artworks are made based on documentation, the latter not only shapes but also determines the future of contemporary artworks.