Brian Dunbar, Summer 2022

Brian Dunbar, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The David Booth Conservation Department

This summer at MoMA I assisted the media conservation team with preparing two complex video artworks to go on display during an upcoming exhibition. My tasks required me to research each piece of artwork and create display specifications which included their history, parts, how they work, how they should be displayed, etc. I additionally had to assist in cleaning and testing both works as well as taking part in emails and meetings with the artists.

In addition to my main tasks I also worked to clean and rehouse an exhibition of 35mm slides that had recently come off of view. I assisted in transferring incoming media, bagging them and checking their validity with MD5. I also transferred numerous tapes ranging from vhs, to umatic to digibeta in MoMA's new viewing room. As part of my time at MoMA I created wiring diagrams for the new viewing room as well as a document outlining the process of tape digitization and transfer. On top of documenting the viewing room I also created diagrams for three video artworks that are currently on display in the galleries. Another task included inspecting film prints and recreating a print/ placing a print on a core that had previously run on a loop in the galleries. There were many little tasks to be found throughout the summer and it is a great internship for those who like to tinker. Come here with a desire to learn!