Musicians rehearse for a performance of Tony Conrad’s Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain 1972

Filming rehearsals for LightNight 2019: performance of Tony Conrad’s Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain 1972
Photo: Roger Sinek © Tate

Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum is a major research project focused on recent and contemporary artworks that challenge the practices of the museum. It contributes to theory and practice in collection care, curation and museum management.

The project started in June 2018 and was due to end on 30 June 2021, but due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic it was extended to December 2022 to allow time for the remaining project publications, finalisation of audience research, and a major international conference. Reshaping the Collectible: Learning Through Change was held online on 14, 15 and 16 September 2022. The majority of sessions were recorded and are available to watch on the conference event page here.

Reshaping the Collectible is grounded in six studies focused on works in the Tate collection: works that unfold over time and exist in multiple forms; works that challenge the boundaries between artwork, record and archive, and rely on complex networks of people, skills and technologies outside of the museum.

At the heart of this initiative is a desire to open up the museum and provide a generous invitation to Tate’s public, making visible the invisible lives of artworks as they unfold within, and in dialogue with, the museum.

We are adding material to the website as it becomes ready for publication. Further texts are forthcoming, and the next to be added will be texts on Tate’s net art commissions in ‘The Lives of Net Art’ section.

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Conference

The Lives of Artworks

The Lives of Net Art

Tony Conrad

Tony Conrad (1940–2016) was an American artist, composer, musician, performer, teacher and filmmaker. A key figure in the New York avant-garde art scene in the 1960s, Conrad is best known for his seminal experiments in minimal, long-duration sound and structural filmmaking. His works explored the conceptual and material properties of film and he used video and performance to explore themes of power and authority. The subject of this focused study is Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain, first performed in 1972, a powerful audio-visual performance that pairs hypnotic film loops with droning strings.

Ima-Abasi Okon

When Archives and Records Live in the Museum

How have we approached this research?

About us & our work

Led by Professor Pip Laurenson, working in close collaboration with staff in the Collection Care Division, researchers are embedded within various teams across Tate and all work in close collaboration with a range of staff across the organisation. The initiative also hosts four visiting fellowships and two collaborative doctoral students.

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For general enquiries or to join our mailing list, please contact ReshapingTheCollectible@tate.org.uk

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Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum is funded by a grant from The Mellon Foundation, and runs until 2022.