Time-Based Media Conservation Fellows and Interns
Current
Jenny Hsu
Jenny Hsu joined the Department in 2024 as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Time-Based Media. Jenny is a recent graduate of New York University’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) program, where she developed her passion for time-based media conservation. While there, she completed internships at La MaMa E.T.C., Video Data Bank, and NYU Libraries Barbara Goldsmith Preservation and Conservation Department. She was also a Graduate Archival Assistant in NYU’s Cinema Studies Department. Jenny’s master’s thesis, entitled Beyond Bytes and Beats: The Preservation of Digital Live Performance Art, explores the challenges of preserving audiovisual live performances that feature live-coding and analog or digital technology to generate and modify both music and visuals in real-time.
Past
Kayla Henry-Griffin
Conservation and Acquisition Process for Time-Based Media Artworks
During their one-year fellowship, Kayla focused on the conservation and acquisition process for time-based media artworks. Kayla contributed to identity reports and iteration reports for time-based media artworks, as well as produced condition reports. They also contributed time to other activities related to the exhibition of time-based media artworks. Their time was spent working together with Jonathan Farbowitz, Associate Conservator of Time-Based Media, and Felice Robles, Conservation Intern.
Caroline Gil
Long-term Management and Documentation Practices for Software-Based Artworks
The conservation of software-based artworks in necessitates continuous management and care of a complex artwork system including digital files, equipment, and artist-provided documentation. Caroline supported the long-term management and storage of time-based media artworks in the Met’s collection. She contributed to an audit of digital artwork components, and by updating TMS database records with distilled information culled from artists' interviews, installation instructions, and original research. As a continuation of her prior work at MoMA, Caroline focused her attention on Philippe Parreno’s With a Rhythmic Instinction to be Able to Travel Beyond Existing forces of Life and Jim Campbell’s Motion and Rest #2.
Alexandra Nichols
Developing Policies and Procedures for the Conservation of Time-based Media at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
This project focused on developing policies, workflows, legal contracts, and documentation templates for the acquisition, exhibition, and preservation of time-based media (TBM) at The Met. Nichols worked closely with Nora Kennedy, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge, as well as with conservation and curatorial colleagues across the museum, Legal Counsel, IS&T, Digital, Registrar, and Exhibition Design. She researched and identified improvements to The Met’s infrastructure for the care of digital art and assisted with the TBM Conservation Assessment, which advocated for resources to support the conservation and preservation of these artworks in the collection. Read more.