![]() ![]() ![]() The Magic Box was found among a collection of journals, correspondence, manuscripts, ephemera, photography, artwork, film, video and audio works. ![]() I was aware of its existence within the David Wojnarowicz Papers (MSS.092), but now that I was in grad school and the library was an email and a short walk away, my archival “spidey sense” was tingling.įales Library acquired the David Wojnarowicz Papers in 1997 and it has since been a centerpiece of its Downtown Collection, established in 1994, which documents the downtown arts scene that evolved in SoHo and the Lower East Side during the 1970s and through the early 1990s. Many artists work in a manner that is referential or draws upon their past work, but it isn't until their materials leave the studio and enter a climate-controlled land of acid-free boxes, undergoing arrangement and description, that they are truly Archival.Īs a student in a dual-degree Art History and MLIS program focused on Art and Archives at Pratt Institute in New York, I was overwhelmingly excited when NYU’s Fales Library gave VICE Magazine access to write an article on David Wojnarowicz's “Magic Box” in 2014. I'll make a controversial, broad-strokes statement and say that many artists are not actively archiving throughout their career and that the “archival turn” happens posthumously, when an estate or managing entity takes control. Wow, right!? Arrange it, describe it, catalog it, put it all together in a finding aid, and maybe even publish your work and findings. Dream scenario for an archivist: one, having a job two, having job security and decent pay at said job three, working at an institution you admire four, being assigned a collection that you are interested in and passionate about five, finding a well-organized treasure trove of material seemingly left specifically for you to discover that is discrete and meaningful to the collection and institution at large as well as the greater archival community. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |