Art with a plug: How can electrical works of art be preserved?

With the event Art with a Plug, the ZKM addresses the challenges involved in preserving media artworks – ranging from light and sound art to kinetic objects. These works, whose function depends on electrical and electronic components, are especially fragile: materials age rapidly, spare parts are rarely available, and knowledge of historical technologies is gradually disappearing. Their preservation poses not only technical but also conceptual challenges.

How, then, can art be preserved when its material is inherently ephemeral? What strategies are needed to safeguard works whose very medium is in constant flux? And what does “authenticity” mean when components or software must be replaced?

Art historians, conservators, and media technicians at the ZKM will provide concise insights into their practice: they will show how they deal with technological aging, document historical electronics, and collaborate with artists and estates to sustain an understanding of the artworks. In the subsequent discussion, participants will explore how museums and collections might engage with this “art with a plug” in the future – balancing preservation, reconstruction, and the acceptance of change.

The event takes place as part of a project partnership with the Wüstenrot Foundation on the occasion of the 8th European Day of Conservation-Restoration.