Instilling liveliness: archives of neo-avant-garde art as sites of activation

Artists’ archives, typically a legacy trove rather than a site for public engagement, are not expected to encompass art. However, since the mid-twentieth century, factors like the ‘dematerialisation of art’, defiance against conventional art categorisations, and the prioritisation of the creative process over its outcomes, have all blurred the lines between artworks and their documentation. Consequently, a significant portion of art produced during the 1960s and 1970s still resides in archives, distributed in art objects and documents. By examining the archives of Ecart, an artistic collective that operated within the broader Fluxus network in 1970s Switzerland, this study proposes activation as an alternative strategy for caring for and securing the continuation of such art, which is often found scattered across various archival holdings. Ultimately, the research suggests activation as a way of expanding conservation beyond the exclusive domain of trained conservators, transforming it into a collective responsibility shared by diverse archive stakeholders.