Things Change is a short documentary that addresses the challenges of preserving time-based media art in the context of a museum. Time-based media artworks may have as their medium film, slides, video, audio, performance or software, they can be analogue or digital and they have the dimension of time.
In the video, some of Tate's conservators and technicians tell us about how they deal with artworks that are performative, multi-dimensional and immersive. From Charles Atlas Joints 4tet Ensemble 1971–2010, to Daria Martin Birds 2001, or to John Gerrard Sow Farm 2009, the preservation of time-based media art offers a unique opportunity to collaborate between departments and to push ahead the research within the museum.
This video has been realised within the context of PERICLES, a four-year project addressing the challenges of ensuring that digital content remains accessible and understandable. PERICLES has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 601138.