Archive as Monument

Abstract

The transitory quality of archival matter—its inevitable deterioration slowed but also highlighted by acid-free folders, gloved handling, and climate control—in part explains why it does not typically occupy the focus of art-historical investigation. Archival matter is, one might say, para-artistic. It contextualizes an artistic oeuvre, fleshes out an artistic biography. The hierarchy is clearly established: archival artifacts are statutorily subordinate to artworks. This essay asks, What happens if we reverse this order, and privilege documents over the artworks or monuments to which they relate? Or, more precisely, what happens when we view documents as monuments? What if we consider the meta-artistic, in addition to para-artistic, meanings of archives? I argue that recentering scholarly investigations around archival materials has profound ideological implications, while raising important questions about the stakes and limits of artistic practice.