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Heterotopia Art Ephemera, Libraries, and Alternative Space

This article discusses how a collection of art ephemera in a library can represent contemporary art practices that are rarely documented, such as those that took place in alternative and informal spaces. The author analyzed art ephemera from London events between 1995-2005, organizing it chronologically and indexing participants. The ephemera give insight into transient art organizations and strategies that might otherwise be obscure.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
40 views7 pages

Heterotopia Art Ephemera, Libraries, and Alternative Space

This article discusses how a collection of art ephemera in a library can represent contemporary art practices that are rarely documented, such as those that took place in alternative and informal spaces. The author analyzed art ephemera from London events between 1995-2005, organizing it chronologically and indexing participants. The ephemera give insight into transient art organizations and strategies that might otherwise be obscure.

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Adriana Cajvan
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Heterotopia: Art Ephemera, Libraries, and Alternative Space

Author(s): Jacqueline Cooke


Source: Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 25,
No. 2 (Fall 2006), pp. 34-39
Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of North
America
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Heterotopia: Art Ephemera, Libraries,
and Alternative
Space_
Jacqueline Cooke

[This article is based on a poster session presented at theARLIS/ i.e., communicate the intentions of the participants or document
NA Annual Conference inHouston, March 2005] events. The collection with which I have worked is comprised of
art ephemera from events taking place in London over ten years,
Art Ephemeraand AlternativeSpace from 1995-2005. I have organized this collection physically in
This article isdrawn from research inwhich I investigated the chronological order, reflectinghow ephemera arrive in the library
as a day-by-day accumulation of items. Ihave indexed artists and
potential of a collection of art ephemera in a library to represent
art which are otherwise docu all other named participants and gallery names for 1999-2001.
contemporary practices rarely
mented. Art ephemera are particularly likely to record transient Of necessity, ephemera in the library are usually considered in
and informal organizations and associated contingent strategies their plurality, kept in files. Such files are usually "artist files"
from the unstable and fugitive terrain of "alternative" art activi and "gallery files" or "institutional files"which cluster the infor
ties,which have been a vital part of contemporary practice. Their mation under certain criteria, hiding other access routes and

qualities,
as art
ephemera, give them a value as a source of poten rearranging the ephemera's provenance. My hybrid of archival
tial histories which might otherwise remain obscure. I am most and library rationales is intended to increase the possibilities for
concerned in this project with art practices which are not object access to this artificial archive. Such ephemeral and short-lived
based, which are tactical and contextual, and inwhich the idea entitiesmay not have archives in the conventional sense.
of alternative space remains operative. All ofmy examples took JulieAult makes a strong case forephemera as a resource. She
place in London, England, in the late 1990s. I am aware thatboth says that "documentation of ephemeral meet
events?protests,
"alternative" and "alternative
space"
are contentious terms; I am ings, actions, installations, exhibitions, temporary art and items
from thepaper trails of short-lived groups?are least likely to be
using them tomake practices visible and because the role of artists
in validating art is both evident in ephemera, and is one of the found in library collections and rarely circulate after the event."4
diverse and contradictory aims on which this category touches. In setting up the collection, Iwas influenced by some exemplary
JulieAult's description and articulation of the issues relevant collections of art ephemera that do include such materials and
to the history of such diverse spaces and practices delineated in are relatively well known and accessible, such as the Political
the essay "For the Record," published in Alternative Art New Art Documentation and Distribution (PADD) archive now in
York,1 have been a central authority forme, although cultural the library atMoMA, New York, and theWomen's Art Library/
differences between New York and London have become evident MAKE collection atGoldsmiths College Library. One motivation
throughmy wider research. I decided to recognize the building for setting up The Women's Art Library/MAKE collection was to
of an art library collection as a representation of spaces,2 taking make a kind of alternative space, a public place inwhich todocu
the artist-run alternative as both material and theoretical ment women's art. As in these a
space examples, partisan engagement
space, and recognizing and exploiting the possibility that the can make a more cohesive collection. I am
personally interested

library is a heterotopia,3 a place that contains different and some in how the idea of alternative space continues to operate, and in
times contradictory understandings of the ideological spaces art that operates criticallywithin informational forms; the exam
thatwe inhabit. ples I have chosen reflect these interests. The following account
drifts from descriptions of particular places in London to repre
Art Ephemeraas Representations sentational space and informational space.
Art ephemera represent the artworld inoverwhelming detail
A ParticularDirectnessas a Resource
when considered as a criticalmass, although thispicture remains
partial. One way inwhich art ephemera do this is tomap where Art ephemera have many qualities thatmake them a valu
events took place. I have developed this cartographical effect able resource. They have a particular kind of directness, being
by including images of the sites and buildings where art events produced at the specific time by those involved. They may be
happened as part of the catalog database called Ephemeris. These used by the artist as an art form,as documentation, or toprovide
images form a visual record of art sites in London during this a context for the art. They may also be used to assert artists'
period (1995-2005). The photographs were often takenwhen the professional authority on art,what it is, its place, and its role.
building was closed, or became disused, or reused; they are in In the introduction to the Life/Liveexhibition catalog from 1996,
a sense empty and do not do what the
ephemera sometimes do, which contains themost complete survey to date of artist-run

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25,

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Spaces inLondon in the 1990s, Suzanne Pag? comments that "in large part of the artworld, but which are often not commented
addition to pursuing their own creative work, these artists also on or written into published histories. Such events and institu
take charge of its distribution and communication, adopting a tionsmay later come tobe considered as significant entities, or as
Situationist-style do-it-yourself approach."5 Art ephemera are failures, or just as a good day out.
usually freely or cheaply distributed, and this distribution is A set of ephemera by Factual Nonsense (FN) was produced
usually directly from the gallery or artist to the recipient. They for a fair that took place outside the Festival Hall on London's
are available in the context of an event; unlike publications, which south bank of the Thames, taking over a public space for the
are "broadcast," ephemera
are
usually "narrowcast"?sent in the
day. Itwas one in a series of streetmarkets organized by FN,
mail, picked up at the event, or given by hand. following the Bull Market inLexington Street the previous year.
Figure 1, the poster "Proposed Redevelopment of theOval, The program lists about fiftyartists who hired stalls and sold
Hackney E2, London"?renamed: "Let the Blood of the Private goods or services. In the evening therewas a party in the Festival
Property Developers Run Freely in the Streets of Hackney Hall. The set of ephemera produced for the event references some
Playscape Complex A," was folded to be mailed and was used traditional formats. The program references the formatused for
as the announcement of an exhibition by Nils Norman held in a parochial agricultural fair in its textual and image content;
a gallery near this street. In the poster, the simple clarity of the the fonts and layout are traditional and ornate. The sheep is
diagrammatic illustrations of an adventure playground replaced used as the central illustration, and this image is redeveloped
by new buildings counterbalance the fighting rhetoric of the title at the bottom where two sheep are shown, each standing with
which blames private property developers. In a speech bubble, one foreleg raised, facing each other. The denomination of the
themessage states that "the economic function of the local area fake currency note is "One Sheep" (Figure 2). This currencywas
has superseded the broader social function." This work relates bought or exchanged for pounds sterling, and the Sheep were
to the artist'smore extensive project6 to document all the public then spent in themarket. They serve both as what they conven
adventure playgrounds built in London, from their creation tionally are and also as souvenirs of the event.
to their disappearance, and also to his other work in which
proposals are produced for organizational change. In this case,
the space exists, but the proposal is alternative.

Figure 2. Factual Nonsense, One Sheep Currency Note, 1999. Courtesy FN.

AlteringConventions
Art ephemera may have brief and conventional content,
or theymay be very condensed, elaborate sources of informa
tion. Contemporary art ephemera often use visual and textual
strategies which relate to the event and to social and political
intentions; they also allude to traditional styles of ephemera by
using citation, parody, or mimicry, as in the example from the
Agricultural Fair. In art ephemera, such strategies and tropes are
Figure 1.Nils Norman, of The Oval,
Proposed Redevelopment Hackney
E2. Poster/flyer.
Courtesyof theartist. used to document and question the interrelationship of the terms
of art and the terms of itsplace in theworld. The use of logos and
Transience
Documenting series to identify institutions and organizations is a convention
A widespread definition of ephemera is that they are the of publicity material. The existence of such conventions means
"minor transientdocuments of everyday life."7Art ephemera are that these conventions can be used, creatively and critically, to
the documents of the everyday activity ofmaking art public. Art comment on the event and the institution,and todescribe tactical
ephemera have a marginal yet dependent relationship to visual uses of such cultural forms.Although ephemera often exist in the
art. Their formats can be conventional; they are intended to act, form of logos and series because of a need to set out ideas or to
for example, like a program for an event, but parody, homage, communicate in a very time frame, the categoriza
contemporary
and pastiche are used to complicate, elucidate, or mix the tion of themanifestation of thematerial should not dominate our
messages. Text and images may accomplish this independently, understanding of itsmeaning. Ephemera are usually intended to
or theymay reflect or react upon each other. The visual element be useful for a short time, and it is thisusefulness that is literally
is as important as the textual, and the two cannot be understood
ephemeral, rather than the items themselves; these often become
separately, whether they are created by artists or not. souvenirs, or are intended as documentation.
Art ephemera are especially valuable in a library collection Because it ismade in advance of an occasion, an ephemeron
because they document events and structures which are also may be evidence that something existed. Anna Best's leaflet for
ephemeral?the kind of events happening daily which form a Occasional Sights: A London Guidebook ofMissed Opportunities

2 ? 2006 ? ArtDocumentation
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and Things That Aren't Always There (Figure 3) documents Salon 3was established by Rebecca Gordon Nesbit and Hans
possibilities, rather than certainties. She used the line of the Ulrich Obrist inunit 318 in the shopping center.A non-commercial
Thames to indicate London, and in the leaflet she names places gallery run by professional curators, itwas funded with grants
and sightswhich are occasionally present. She states, "Igathered from public funding bodies. The gallery was in an alternative
anecdotes, images, drawings and some interesting encounters location where few other galleries and art projects were found.
and made a book, like a guidebook thatworks alphabetically The shopping centerwas not thriving, and the shops therewere
by area, but almost an anti-guidebook in thatmany other things very low budget. Many units were empty, which is why the
wouldn't be there ifyou went back to find them. I also didn't gallery could exist there on low rent.The shops in the center sold
want thebook tobe seen as the end of theproject, something too substitutes and cheap goods; the centerwas maintained by the
final,but a tool to use to explore London, or anywhere in fact, in local council, and at that timewas painted pink outside. This use
a different
way."8
has nothing to do with shopping. Shopping centers are sheltered
and warm, tomake spending time in themmore pleasant. This
image makes the unit appear desolate and decaying, but the
shiny rivulets are pretty. The artist's opinion of commercialism
and commodification as such isnot spelled out. An experimental
rather than a didactic work, it temporarily takes over the space
for a differentpurpose.

3. Anna Best, Occasional Leaflet. Courtesy Anna Best.


Figure Sights.

Alternatively, the ephemera may document a work which


was an installation, where the space was as represented, but it
was not possible to experience it.The image in Figure 4 comes
from an itemproduced by Salon3 to announce and document the
exhibition Irrigation-Fertilisation by Bojan Sarcevic at the gallery.
Figure 5. EmmaHedditch,A Political Feeling, IHope So. 2004. Courtesy
The artist flooded the floor of the Elephant and Castle Shopping E. Hedditch.
Centre on a Sunday night. The leaflet is a single sheet of paper,
folded formailing, with an image covering one side and text in CreatingInstitutions
a band along thebottom thatgives information about the exhibi
Ephemera may also be used to describe the taking over of a
tion. The leaflet is cheaply produced, one-color printing on thin space in a more ideological way, as in the example "A Political
paper, combining exhibition announcement and a representa Feeling, I Hope So" (Figure 5). This is a card announcing a
tion of thework in one piece. The artist reflects on the site of the weekend of events at Cubitt Gallery inAngel Yard, organized by
gallery, in thiswork. Emma Hedditch. She places her subjective self into the statement
where she conjoins politics with feeling and hope, and a state
ment with intention. On the reverse side, the text begins "For
three days Cubitt Gallery will become a feminist autonomous
space...at leastwe will commit to that idea." She has taken herself
to the space, temporarily replacing its own institutional identity.
The phrase "at leastwe will commit" iswhat forme describes the
complexity in this example; it acknowledges distance, without
lessening the integrity. The "we" is fluid: there are different
an institution has
participants in the different events. Cubitt as
made this change of space possible. Cubitt is both artists' studios
and a gallery, run by a changing committee of studio holders,
with shows organized by guest curators for a fixed period.
Cubitt temporarily hosted a different institution for the
exhibition Publish and Be Damned, curated by Emily Pethick
and photographed in 2004. The show was a collection of artist
Figure 4. Bojan Sarcevic, Irrigation-Fertilisation, London: Salon 3,2001 published magazines which were displayed on tables and
a
[detail]. Courtesy Salon3.
pegged on lines, and therefore available to be read. There is

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rather than as a threat; such nuance is innovative in this project.
The design of itsephemera contributes to the InfoCentre's artists'
idea of theway thisparticular institutionworks. Figure 8 shows
an announcement of an art event combined with a social invita
tion to have a drink. A last newsletter explains the end of their
self-institutionalization and their strategic exit from that space:
At Info Centre we are, as many others are, working on exit

and ways not to invent, but to get access to


strategies only
new fields ofpossibilities forthinkingand acting and means
to establish new grounds for theflows of desires and wills
which can't be channelled under the present mental and
material circumstances. Just the idea of an exit makes us

imagine things.But it isn't always that straightforward to


an exit and to run the risk.
make often they fail. You have

We are off.10

Figure 6. Cubitt Gallery, Angel Yard, 2004, with sign for "Public
Library." Courtesy Ephemeris.

shift here frommaterial space to considering the form of the Centre


InfoArchitecture,
institution as thework. The building itselfwas labeled with a Art, andUrbanLife
Technology
notice?Public Library?to temporarily change the identity of
the space (Figure 6).
Cards for some galleries show clear institutional identity, l?ysoei?tien of ?utonomou* ?strofiiutsl

particularly those thatare conceived as series, inwhich thedesign


emphasizes the institution.The cards forPlatform Gallery were
designed by Secondary Modern and look like train tickets (Figure 1999
7). The gallery is run by Sheila Lawson, and she describes it as a
non-commercial project space. Neither she nor the designers are
space
named on the cards. Platform?the institution?is presented as a
series of platforms for artists' shows.
We havebrewedbeer.Have a drink
June24thfrom
Thursday 6:30pm
too
Euan Macdonald ?>ee \v\
Annabel Frearson you
Platform
Top Floor,123aMare Street,LondonE8 3RH,
T/F01819859981
8. Info Centre, 1999. Invitation Card. Courtesy H. Heise.
Figure Space
7. Platform, Exhibition Announcement Card. Courtesy Platform.
Figure
Contexts
Addressing andCriticality
Info Centre was a project thatHenriette Heise and Jakob critical strategies, the institution of art itself
Despite
Jakobsen ran from 1999-2000 in London. During that time, they continues. In addressing theproblem of how tobe critical, in rela
a newsletter and invitation cards for
produced six issues of tion to art in itswider context, the form of ephemera itself,as a
events in a consistent format.Conventionally, the production of conveyer of information or knowledge, is sometimes used reflex
coordinated printed materials focuses on the institution rather ively. Ephemera are used intentionally to alter the context of an
than the individual. However, thepersonal style of communica event, tomediate how the particular institutional space affects
tion in the ephemera reflects the "self-institutionalization" that the art. Sometimes thework itself is concerned with tactical use of
was stated as an aim of the project, as did the location of the informational forms, inwhich case, the critical context of the alter
space in theirhome flat. native is that in a knowledge economy?where creative thought,
The process of institutionalization has often been seen as a
knowledge, and information are important factors in how the
problem, something that runs counter to theoriginal aims of artists economy functions?the problem of how to be critical becomes
who set up artist-run However, rather than seeing more Art are used as a critical
organizations.9 complex.11 ephemera space.
institutionalization as an outside process, InfoCentre takes it on
Johnny Spencer's "Inquiry Unit" (Figure 9) was commis
as the context of thework, something that can be worked with, sioned as part of the show Century City at Tate Modern in 2000.

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to the aims of the organization. In a similarway, collections may
have a particular focus, and catalogs may be used to reflect the
ideas represented in ephemera. In 2002 I took part inVektor,14
a project that investigated the possibility of a joint catalog
for European archives of contemporary art held in archives,
galleries, and libraries. As part of the project, we compared
subject headings thatwe used locally with those in theArt and
Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), and in discussion we found that
we needed more definition of contemporary curatorial strategies
and a better definition of art thatwas more concerned with social
processes than are customarily found in library catalogs thatuse
standards.
existing
Ephemera convey the visual and textual strategies of their
times. They are a condensed source of information; theymay
be innovative, but often tend to cite or re-use conventional
Figure 9. JohnnySpencer,InquiryUnit. CenturyCity,TateModern, 2000. In some
communication documentation or
strategies. ephemera,
Courtesyof theartist. representation of thework for the archive and thework itself
The work was in the form of a set of corporate-style information might be indistinguishable, both conceptually and in format.
The catalog may be used to create relationships between parts
panels that had begun to appear inmuseums and galleries to of one item or groups of material. Artworks, documentation
mediate or contextualize the artworks in an exhibition. The text
of art, and administrative documents may be interrelated, and
on the panel was the result of an inquiry into the state of current
the catalog can be used to make those relationships evident.
thought on art and its relationship to the knowledge economy.
At the artist's request, thework was not documented as being Using hierarchical structures such as those made possible by
Functional Requirements forBibiliographic Records (FRBR)15or
part of the exhibition, although itwas listed in the catalog. In the cross-references, this structural principle can be applied when
context of the exhibition, it appeared at firstsight to come from
the institution.However, on reading it, itdid not have an insti cataloging digital ephemera, or ephemera related to recordings
of art practice. Ephemera are individually fragmentary, and
tutional style?it was farmore opinionated, and itwas critical of
the prevailing institutional presentation of art as a constituent of possibly incoherent as source material. If librarypractices can be
used to re-contextualize them by drawing out the relationships
a "culture capital" in 1990s London.12
that ephemera have to other ephemera, or to othermaterials, or
to art practices and ideas, then thatwill help to draw out their
ArtEphemera
intheLibrary as sources.
potential
The site or context of art ephemera affectshow the ephemera The different ways that ephemera function may conse
function. Library collections contain material that is de-contex quently affect theirmeanings. To some extent, this is always
tualized, which we re-contextualize by the way we arrange, the case, but when the ephemera are used to comment on the
describe, and provide access to it.13 Art ephemera collected by
original site or context, then themove into a library collection
libraries are usually stored in artist files or institutional files. may substantially affect the meaning of an ephemeron. The
If these are cataloged in our main catalogs, they are usually
following example is an excerpt from the remarks ofDick Burn,
accessed under the names of the artists rather than arranged formerMedea Group (an advanced multimedia company) coor
thematically. This procedure is very useful and does help to dinator, at Marilyn Community College in Calais, France, on
provide access to the files?both through the artist's name and June 18, 2001. An information panel with the textwas shown
with the aid of online bibliographic indexing and abstracting in the exhibition The Communications Department16 atAnthony
services?to artists who work in particular ways or who deal Wilkinson Gallery. The textwas also produced as an exhibition
with specific subjects. Name indexes of artist fileshave also been handout on a single sheet of paper. The part of the text I cite here
expanded to form bibliographic resources, and once readers reflectsupon the value of knowledge:
know about the files, they have access to a more varied source
One problem with knowledge is that it can get obsolete
material, including artists' statements as well as cuttings from a
wider range of publications. One result of thispractice, however, quickly.Here again, groups likeMedea look topartners like
is to emphasize the role that ephemera have as evidence of events Marilyn Community College to remain vigilant in keeping
students abreast of changing trends and We
in the careers of individual artists. developments.
need people that can quickly take inventoryofwhat they
Ephemera have many roles, as I have described above; they know and see the strategic as well as the details.
landscape
may be immediately useful at an event, theymay act as an invi
They can jump on something and withhold it, gaining
tation, or like "Inquiry Unit," theymay be critical in the context
substantial political advantage.17
of an event. Ephemera may provide evidential information or
documentation about the event or the activities of participants The meaning of the text in the copy in the library collection
after the event is past, or may represent an event in an archive. is changed in this example by its context, rather than by thephys
Archives of galleries and organizations, as well as of individ ical differences (in size, position, etc.). The textdoes not contain
uals, often contain ephemera, inwhich case the structure of the a reference to the Communications Department show to carry
archive provides an alternative context for the ephemera that that contextwith it.Neither is the artist identified, so in this case
emphasizes its relationship to exhibitions, events, or projects or the dynamic of the particular event is lost.What does remain

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is that the text indicates that criticality, argument, dialectic, and 7.Michael Twyman, introduction to The Encyclopedia of
mapping produce knowledge, and that consequently these tools Ephemera:A Guide to theFragmentaryDocuments ofEveryday
which were developed in opposition to dominant ideology are Lifefor theCollector, Curator andHistorian, byMaurice Rickards
now useless against it.As Johnny Spencer, one of the artists, (London: British Library, 2000). Twyman here states that
explains: "It just so happens that for the last decade my art has "among several definitions of ephemera thatMaurice Rickards
been a combination of those things that are central to the imma proposed, this is the one thathas gained widest currency."
terial worker:
knowledge, information, affect, communication, 8. See http:/ /www.annabest.info/ex occasional-sights/
and ideas. Dematerialization was itselfnow central to the neo index.html. There is also a related book: Anna Best and Neil
liberal/global capitalist vision of the future...."18However, my Chapman, eds., Occasional Sights (London: Photographers
reading of this ephemeron as deposited in the library is that it Gallery, 2003).
functions tautologically with the text,as awithholding of knowl 9. See, forexample, the theme issue "The Visual Artists'
edge?a complex alternative strategy. Organization," Afterimage 14, no. 3 (October 1986), in particular
JudyMoran and Renny Pritikin's article "Some Thoughts:
Conclusion Artists Organizations Contrasted toOther Arts Organizations,"
9-17.
All of the art practices described in this articlework in some pp.
10. InfoCentre, excerpt from 6th (final) newsletter, 2000.
way with the context of art, tryingto findways tobe critical.Using
11. JohnnySpencer, "We Know Too Much These Days,"
parody, d?tournement, and heartfelt idiolectal diatribe, they use
ephemera as the carrier of theirvoices as artists to question the http: / /www.infopool.org. Spencer reflects that "As Donna
space of art. This resource enhancement project became partly an Haraway reports in the 'CyborgManifesto,' as long ago as the
conferences in 1946, humans were to be seen as informa
investigation into artpractice and the idea of alternative space, but Macy

it ismainly an investigation intohow an art librarycan support and tion-processing entitieswho are essentially similar to intelligent
machines. It's the information flows that count."
document research in contemporary visual art practice, inwhich I
tried tounderstand some of the issues of context and representation 12. Emma Dexter, "London 1990-2001: Picturing the
across both art and librarianship. I have been working as visual arts City," inCentury City: Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis
and special collections librarian at Goldsmiths College, University (London: Tate, 2001), 72-95.
of London, concurrentlywith conducting the research supporting 13.1 treat the subject of cataloging as re-contextualization
this article and have used thematerial collected to develop a only briefly and theoretically here. Inmy article "Calling in
theDark: IdentifyingOur Ephemera Files" (forthcoming,
working resource.19The resulting catalog Ephemeriswas developed
as a database using FileMaker Pro, with Dublin Core metadata. It Art Libraries Journal,Autumn 2006) I have reviewed practical
is arranged chronologically and indexed intensively.My intention models of cataloging ephemera in relation to this theme, and
was touse cataloging processes with a small collection as a research I am continuing to research in this area. My case is built on
tool to investigate thepotential of ephemera as a research resource, anecdotal evidence from colleagues in theU.K. and theVektor
rather than toproduce a systemwhich in turnmay be expanded for project, and from curatorial use of ephemera in exhibitions such
use with a larger collection, although this could be done. Ephemeris as Alternative Art New York, Extra Art, Interarchive, Bankside
is available in the Special Collections Department at Goldsmiths Browser, and Bring theWar Home.
14. Lioba Reddeker, ed., Archiving thePresent?Gegenwart
College and will soon be made available online.20
dokumentieren: Manual on Cataloguing Modern and Contemporary
Notes Art inArchives and Databases /Handbuch zur Erschlie?ung
moderner und zeitgen?ssischerKunst inArchiven und Datenbanken
1. JulieAult, "For theRecord," inAlternative Art New York
(Vienna: basis wien, to be published 2006); details fromhttp://
(Minneapolis: University ofMinnesota Press, 2000), 1-16. Julie's www.vektor.at.
to the term "alternative," etc., is that "these terms
opposition 15. See OCLC Research Activities and IFLA's Functional
inscribe and promote a hierarchical understanding of the art
Requirements forBibliographic Records, http: / /www.oclc.
field as a system." Her position is that "For the sake of visibility
org/ research/projects/frbr/.
and clarity, I find 'alternative' to be useful as a general term
16. The Communications Department exhibition took place
because itdeclares historical and critical relations between the at Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London, June 2001, and was
structures thus classified and the then existing institutions and was no
curated Alex There
by Farquharson. catalog.
practices." (pp. 3-4). I have adopted this view here. 17.Medea Group, remarks ofDick Burn, 2001.
2. Based upon Lefebvre's analysis of differentkinds of
18. Spencer, "We Know Too Much These Days."
representational spaces. See Henri Lefebvre, The Production of 19.1 am grateful toGoldsmiths College Visual Arts Depart
Space (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1991). ment, University of London, for supporting the project, both
3.Michel Foucault, "Of Other Spaces," inArchitecture
academically and with a small research grant.My forthcoming
Culture, 1943-1968, ed. J.Ockman (New York: Rizzoli, 1993). PhD dissertation will be called "Art Ephemera and Alternative
Foucault proposes the library specifically as a heterotopia of
Space inLondon 1995-2005" and is due to be completed in 2007.
time, rather than space. 20. See Goldsmiths College Library Special Collections
4. Ault, "For the Record," 1-16.
Web site at http: / /libweb.gold.ac.uk/speccoll.php.
5. Suzanne Page, preface to Life/Live,vol. 1 (Paris:Mus?es
de laVille de Paris, 1996), 8.
6.Nils Norman, Keith Cr anwell, and Paul Clay don, An
JacquelineCooke, Subject Librarianfor Visual Arts & Visual Cultures,
Architecture ofPlay: A Survey ofLondon sAdventure Playgrounds GoldsmithsCollege, University ofLondon (UK), [email protected]
(London: Four Corners Books, 2003).

2 ? 2006 ? ArtDocumentation
Volume25, Number 39

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