Approaching an Art-Conservation Framework for Digital-Art Installations: The Case of “Arabesque” by P.J. Holden

Abstract

The installation by P. J. Holden was presented as a contemporary artwork at the Digital Arts Festival in Athens at “Megaron” Hall in 2018 and ever since has had a major artistic and social impact all over the word. For its exhibition needs, it was necessary that a series of decisions be made, all of which were relative to the factor of functionality”. For the work is not a simple sculpture but a moving artwork, with an environmental, aesthetic and also aural impact on the viewer. Corresponding to the principles of acoustic ecology and urban sounds, the work does not only explore the relationship between man and his environment (and consequently nature and urban culture) through its sound, but also directly or indirectly influences the consciousness and the way the visitors think, see, hear and interpret. In particular, the installation is made up of multi-part replicas of the artist's body. Those are robotically dancing through air-pressure systems in the rythme of Johann Strauss's Blue Danube. Preventive conservation does not seem to have the greatest meaning in the case of preservation, as sound, motion and light are digitally controlled. The same applies for the acoustic climate (db) of noise produced by the project's operating equipment (levers, compressed air tubes, loudspeakers) the optical climate, the hydraulic system, etc. Unlike recordings and video recordings (of Echo/lightscapes), Arabesque is not just a computer projection to be installed. It raises multiple issues regarding the authenticity of the artwork, the multiple versions of artworks, the deterioration and restoration of matter, and the competence of the group of scientists that care on behalf of the artist so as to install it.