Time-Based Media Conservation

Time-based media (TBM) conservation at The Met began as a response to the emerging collection of these artworks by multiple curatorial departments. The Met began assembling a collection of TBM art in the late 1990s, and started to exhibit these pieces in the early 2000s. However, specialized procedures and dedicated staff did not exist at the time to address the challenges of collecting and exhibiting TBM artworks. For many years, staff at the Museum in Photograph Conservation (Nora Kennedy), Film & Media (Jessica Glass, Robin Schwalb, and Paul Caro), and the Department of Photographs (Douglas Eklund and Malcolm Daniel) advocated hiring individuals with expertise in this unique area of conservation specialization. During these years, audiovisual staff, collections staff, fellows, and occasional contract conservators, were engaged in addressing the collection's most urgent needs.

In 2001, a small “support group” of the individuals from conservation, curatorial, and technical services at The Met began meeting to discuss the challenges of acquiring and caring for TBM art. In 2010, under the leadership of Jessica Glass, the group officially became The Met's Time-Based Media Working Group. Subsequently, under Anna Wall, Meredith Reiss, and Catherine Burns, it grew to include members from across the museum and laid the groundwork for TBM acquisition, exhibition, and documentation procedures and policies. With input from members of the group, these policies were then further developed by Alex Nichols, The Met's first fellow to work specifically in TBM conservation.

A collection-wide TBM assessment and survey was carried out from 2016 to 2018 by outside consultant Glenn Wharton, assisted by Lorena Ramírez-López, a graduate of New York University's Moving Image Archiving Preservation Program, and Lia Kramer, a graduate of Institute of Fine Arts’ Conservation Center, and through the efforts of internal colleagues, including Mollie Anderson, Nora Kennedy, Milo Thiesen, and Alex Nichols.

As a result of the assessment and consistent advocacy efforts, in December 2019, Jonathan Farbowitz was hired as The Met's first Associate Conservator of Time-Based Media thanks to generous support from the Keighley Foundation through The Met's Digital Department. These funds also paid for setting up a TBM conservation lab hosted within the Imaging Department. The Keighley Foundation as well as Jade Lau and Mary Jaharis supported this essential position for its initial four and half years. In 2024, the Associate Conservator of Time-Based Media position was made permanent, signaling a new and important phase in the acquisition and care of contemporary art at The Met.

Proper equipment and facilities are essential for studying, documenting, and treating time-based media artworks, which employ both contemporary and older technologies. The Department of Photograph and Time-Based Media Conservation's lab facilities include a seminar room, imaging station, and treatment tables. A separate dedicated time-based media (TBM) conservation lab space is located within The Met’s Imaging Department. In addition to the lab space, TBM conservation maintains a full complement of tools for working on film and electronics, as well as a study collection of media formats.

The space for a TBM conservation lab was first identified in 2019 within the Met’s Imaging Department. This small area was outfitted with equipment and became operational in 2021. In 2024, following a department-wide renovation, the lab moved into a larger space, still within the Imaging Department.

The lab centers around two computer workstations: one for the close viewing and examination of artworks, and another for digital preservation and storage management. The close viewing and listening station is equipped with multiple calibrated video monitors for condition assessment of high definition (HD), standard definition (SD), 2K, and 4K video content. It also includes reference speakers and headphones for audio evaluation, a digital waveform monitor and vector scope for analyzing video and audio signals, write-blocking devices, and a RAID drive for working storage. The digital storage management station supports interaction with the museum’s on-site digital artwork storage. After thorough examination of an artwork, its digital components are synced to the museum’s long-term storage system. The lab also features a Linux laptop that runs the BitCurator environment, used for disk imaging and other digital forensics tasks.

This setup allows conservators to closely assess an artwork’s condition, determine appropriate next steps for its care and preservation, and transfer artwork-related digital files to safer storage.

Additional lab equipment includes tools for electronics testing, repair, and soldering, as well as inspection and splicing tools for 35mm and 16mm film. The lab also maintains a study collection consisting of various contemporary and obsolete media formats, including analog video and audiotapes, optical media, and floppy disks, used for educational, research, and testing purposes.