Shared Knowledge:

The Artof Collecting
Media Art
Perspectives
from Museums& Collections

Introduction

The Art of Collecting Media Art — Perspectives from Museums & Collections

How do museums collect media art? Where do private collectors findpotential exhibits? What challenges accompany new technologies inthe collection and preservation of art? What role do current sociopolitical developments play for media art collections? And what is theeffect of the increasing fusion of art and science?

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The capacity building workshop “The Art of Collecting Media Art –Perspectives from Museums and Collections”, hosted by Werkleitz
Centre for Media Art, sought to highlight diverse positions, key areas,
and theses from the field of media art.
This handout is intended to provide an initial overview – without
claiming to be exhaustive – of private and public, large and smallcollections worldwide that deal with the collection of media art.
The list is complemented by 3 short video inputs from the following
participants of the digital EMAP capacity building workshop,
moderated by Attilia Fattori Franchini (Writer and Curator):•Alain Servais, Media Art Collector•Jenny Starick, Collections and Archives, ZKM – Center for Art & Media•

Ivo Wessel, Software Developer and Media Art Collector

In the section “Shared Knowledge” EMAP publishes results frominternal conferences and workshops to share them with othercultural organisations and artists. The aim is to exchange and gain
know ledge within the sector of media art.
Do you want to share knowledge?
Contact us: pr@emare.eu

Overview of Collections

The Art of Collecting Media Art — Perspectives from Museums & Collections

1. A selection of some of the most importantprivate collections and foundations in thefield of Media Art3□

Beep Collection: Reus, Spain
beepcollection.art□Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation: Chicago & Santa Fe, USA
thomafoundation.org□Ivo Wessel: Berlin, Germany
ivo-wessel.de(please find detailed information and a short video input below)□Julia Stoschek Collection: Düsseldorf / Berlin, Germany
jsc.art□Kramlich Collection: California, USA
kramlichcollection.org□

Kunshalle Praha: Prague, Czech Republic
kunsthallepraha.org□

Ogut+Cumbusyan Collection: New York, USA / Istanbul, Turkey /Zurich, Switzerland
larryslist.com□

Phi Center: Montreal, Canadaphi.ca□

Sammlung Goetz: Munich, Germany
sammlung-goetz.de□Servais Family Collection:(please find detailed information and a short video input below)□Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21): Madrid, Spain /Vienna, Austria
tba21.org□Verbeke Foundation: Kemzeke, Belgium
verbekefoundation.com

The Art of Collecting Media Art — Perspectives from Museums & Collections

1.1

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Excursion: Input from the private collectors
Ivo Wessel & Alain Servais
Even as a pupil, Ivo Wessel was enthusiastic about electronics,
computers, contemporary art and literature. After his studies incomputer science and psychology in Braunschweig, he worked
as a software and iOS app developer, especially in the field ofart. Since 2008, together with Olaf Stüber, he has presented
the event series “Videoart at Midnight”, video art screenings
in the cinema Babylon in Berlin – once a month on a Friday,
always at midnight. Currently, he is developing with Mariovon Kelterborn a social media platform for the art scene –a digital place where people can show art. Moreover, he isalso a private collector and his collection includes conceptualart, concrete painting, photography, media and video art. Set
within the Berlin art scene, it can be visited by appointment,except during Gallery Weekend and Berlin Art Week. As acollector, he is especially interested in dealing with media/
video art, its handling, maintenance, communication andpresentation inside and outside the collection.
Find the link to his video presentation in the framework ofthe EMAP Capacity Building Workshop “The Art of Collecting
Media Art – Perspectives from Museums and Collections”:>>> Ivo Wessel
Additional Links:
Archie­’s Nose app
videoart-at-midnight.deThe Art of Collecting Media Art — Perspectives from Museums & Collections

5Alain Servais is an art collector in the international
contemporary art field with a background in investmentbanking and a strong interest in video art and new media.
For more than twenty years, the Servais Family Collection
has focused on underrepresented and museum-quality art.
Looking for both, core fundamentals and the emergent,
the collection strengthens artistic positions that raise difficult
questions about identity, materiality, corporeality, violence,
racism, and death. Since 2000, The Servais Family Collection
has occupied a 900-square-metre industrial space known
as The Loft, where it is reimagined in a carefully-consideredannual exhibition. Alain also runs an artist residency in
Schaerbeek, a diverse neighborhood in Brussels. He also
addresses the major hurdles and challenges of preserving,exhibiting and reproducing digital art as a collector and calls
for all stakeholders in video art to collaborate with lawyers
in setting meaningful international standards for the sale ofdigital art.
Find the link to his video presentation in the framework of theEMAP Capacity Building Workshop “The Art of Collecting
Media Art – Perspectives from Museums and Collections”:>>> Alain Servais
Additional Links:
mattersinmediaart.org
The Right Time To Rethink The Structure

The Art of Collecting Media Art — Perspectives from Museums & Collections

2. A selection of some importantmuseums with Media Art collections:6□

Centre Pompidou: Paris, France
centrepompidou.fr□

Hamburger Kunsthalle: Hamburg, Germany
hamburger-kunsthalle.de□

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen: Düsseldorf, Germany
kunstsammlung.de□

MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology: Lisbon, Portugal
maat.pt□

MoMa: New York, USA
www.moma.org□Museum Ludwig: Cologne, Germany
museum-ludwig.de□

Tate Modern: London, United Kingdom
tate.org.uk□

ZKM – Center for Art and Media: Karlsruhe, Germany
zkm.de(please find detailed information and a short video input below)

Please find an wide overview of Media Art institutions, festivals,
galleries and spaces in our EMAP-Partnerlist:
emare.eu/partners

The Art of Collecting Media Art — Perspectives from Museums & Collections

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7Excursion: Input from Jenny Starick, ZKM Collection
Jenny Starick is an art historian and assistant to the Headof Department at the ZKM Collection in Karlsruhe. For thecollection, which has a globally unique stock of computerbased installations, video tapes and video installations,
Jenny Starick is involved in the current collection exhibitionin Karlsruhe and at the Gwangju Museum of Art in SouthKorea. She is part of the team developing a chatbot for art
education and mediation, and is involved in the “digilog@bw”
project linking science and art to advance a fruitful dialogue
on digitality and digitisation. She is also working on the Web
Residencies by Akademie Schloss Solitude and ZKM, which
is dedicated to fostering young talent from the international
digital scene as well as artists from all disciplines who engage
with web-based practices. Today, she also highlights thework and projects of her colleagues from the Knowledge
Department.
Find the link to his video presentation in the framework of theEMAP Capacity Building Workshop “The Art of Collecting
Media Art – Perspectives from Museums and Collections”:>>> Jenny Starick

European Media Art Platform
The European Media Art Platform (EMAP),
initiated by werkleitz and co- funded by
Creative Europe since 2018, is a consortiumof leading European media art organisations
specialised in Digital and Media Art, Bio Art
and Robotic Art.
emare.eu
info@emare.eu

Contact:
Werkleitz Center for Media Art
Peter Zorn
Schleifweg 6
D-06114 Halle (Saale) Germany+49 (0)345 682460
pz@werkleitz.de