Conference Day 2 – AM
Conserving contemporary artworks that may challenge the very notion of art and its materiality, has seen the practice and profession of conservation expand to webs of relationships and infrastructures that have direct impact on the Planet. This conference asks questions about the sustainability of those practices and networks of care. SUSTAINING ART sees conservators, artists, curators, technicians, collectors, researchers and more, coming together to challenge assumptions, examine practices, and imagine equitable futures. Through experience pieces, research talks, panel discussions, workshops, and short films the sustainability of people, practices, and the planet will be pursued in relation to the conservation of contemporary art.
Dr Ben Twist
Humanity and what is left of the biosphere are in imminent peril. What is the role of conservators in addressing climate change?
Creative Carbon Scotland believes in the essential role of the arts, screen, cultural and creative industries in contributing to the transformational change to a more environmentally sustainable
Scotland. We work directly with individuals, organisations and strategic bodies engaged across cultural and sustainability sectors to harness the role of culture in achieving this change.
Through year-round work and one-off projects, we combine strategic expertise and consultancy; bespoke carbon management training and guidance; and a range of programmes supporting the development of artistic practices in Scotland which address sustainability and climate change.
About Dr Ben Twist
Ben Twist has been director of Creative Carbon Scotland since 2011, combining over 25 years’ experience of producing events and running permanent and temporary venues in the cultural sector with an MSc in Carbon Management and a doctorate in applying complexity theory to social systems in order to bring about more sustainable social practices.
As a theatre director and producer, he was the associate director at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and artistic director at Manchester’s Contact Theatre. He ‘revisioned’ Contact to prepare it for the 21st century and he led the restructuring of North Edinburgh Arts to bring it out of a financial crisis: both are now thriving organisations. As Chair of the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Committee he facilitated and supported organisational change with many cultural organisations and led the distribution of over £150m of National Lottery funds, mostly to capital projects.
He has directed theatre and music theatre as a freelance across the UK, Europe, North America and New Zealand. He was Chair of Scotland’s leading chamber classical music group Hebrides Ensemble and Vice-Chair of the Theatres Trust and the Edinburgh Sustainable Development Partnership.
Jose Luiz Pederzoli
Our Collections Matter: connecting heritage connections and sustainable development
José Luiz Pedersoli Jr. from Brazil has joined ICCROM as Project Manager – Conservation of Collections. He holds a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and a Master of Science in polymer chemistry from the University of Helsinki. Mr Pedersoli was previously a staff member at ICCROM between 2005 and 2008, working as conservation scientist in the Collections Unit. In the ten years since, Mr Pedersoli expanded his expertise in risk management, preventive conservation and value assessment, having advised institutions from national heritage departments, archives, historic houses and contemporary art museums, in his native Brazil and internationally. He has also been deeply engaged in ICCROM’s initiatives and activities including CollAsia, LATAM and the Summer School on Communication and Teaching Skills.
In his new position, Mr Pedersoli will continue these activities, while also contributing to the development of new and innovative programmes and partnerships in line with ICCROM’s Strategic Directions.
James Newman
Mario is Missing! Playing, not playing and preserving video games
At a time when there are more gaming platforms and titles available than ever before, it might seem strange to claim that videogames are disappearing. And yet, despite their apparent
abundance, the processes of material and digital deterioration render hardware and software unusable as hard drives fail, discs become unreadable, activation servers are re-allocated and
newly released systems offer no compatibility with existing libraries of games and peripherals.
Adding to this, journalistic, retail and marketing practices fuel a marketplace of perpetual innovation that rationalises and justifies the rapidity of supersession and obsolescence. As such, videogames are, without doubt, disappearing and the continued – and accelerating – loss of this material denies future generations access to their cultural heritage and robs the next generation
of developer’s historical reference material to draw on. As Henry Lowood (2009) pointed out more than a decade ago, we need to take action ‘before it’s too late’. Building on ideas outlined in
publications including Best Before (2012) and the Game Over (2018) and Time Extend! (2020) White Papers, this session considers different approaches to preserving videogames.
In particular, the session revisits some underlying presuppositions and proposes a rethinking of the objective of game preservation that shifts away from the dominant assumption that the aim of game preservation is to retain long-term playability towards incorporating play as a complex collection of practices to be captured and preserved. The session concludes by exploring the application of these ideas and innovative uses of emulation in exhibits such as the ‘Game Inspector’ developed for at the National Videogame Museum where Newman is a curator and Head of Research.
About James Newman
James Newman, PhD, FHEA, FRHistS. Research Professor and Senior Teaching Fellow, Bath Spa University and Head of Research, National Videogame Museum, UK. Over the past 20 years, he has written widely on aspects of videogames, players and fans, game preservation, exhibition and interpretation. He has spoken across the world at events for academics, policy-makers, game developers and players. James’ books include ‘Videogames’; ‘Playing with Videogames’; and ‘Best
Before: Videogames, Supersession and Obsolescence’ (for Routledge); and ‘100 Videogames’ and ‘Teaching Videogames’ (for BFI Publishing). Most recently, James co-authored ‘A History of Videogames’ (Carlton Books) which is the first volume to explore and draw on the collections of the UK’s National Videogame Museum where James also works as Research Lead and Curator.
As outputs of projects funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust (2018-19) and ESRC (2020-present), James has authored two White Papers on videogame history and preservation and, in
2020, co-founded the Videogame Heritage Society which is the first Subject Specialist Network (SSN) dedicated to digital media. James currently has contracts for monographs on videogame
spectatorship, sound and music, and on the histories of Roland’s synthesizers and drum machines.