Time-based media

Time-based media is a term coined by museum conservators for durational works of art that unfold over a period of time. This work often relies on technology, but includes mediums such as performance art and social practice. In the late 1990s, various institutions and organizations started forming think-tanks and working groups to develop standard practices for the acquisition, analysis, and care for these works over time.

Time-based media conservation
Time-based media art presents unique challenges for the field of conservation. While early media conservators often came from traditional sculpture conservation backgrounds, contemporary media conservators benefit from having diverse backgrounds and experiences. The American Institute for Conservation formed the Electronic Media Group in 1998. The variable media initiative was active at the Guggenheim from 1999 to 2004. Matters in Media Art - a collaboration between the New Art Trust, MoMA, SFMoMA, and the Tate - launched in 2005 to help institutions, collectors, and conservators keep works of media art alive. NYU launched the Time-based Media Art Conservation Education Program in the fall of 2018 under the guidance of Christine Frohnert and Hannelore Roemich. In recent years, various time-based media working groups have formed at major institutions such as the Whitney, The Met, The Smithsonian, and The National Gallery of Art.

Collectors
Outside of institutions, major collectors of time-based media art include Robert Rosenkranz, Ingvild Goetz, Julia Stoschek, and Pamela and Richard Kramlich.

In the media
The podcast Art and Obsolescence features interviews with artists, curators, conservators, and collectors regarding time-based media and its conservation.

Artists
The list below consists of notable artists who create or have created significant works that fall under the time-based media category:


 * Ai Weiwei
 * Alan Michelson
 * Alvin Lucier
 * American Artist
 * Ana Mendieta
 * Annea Lockwood
 * Annie Sprinkle
 * Arthur Jafa
 * Beryl Korot
 * Bill Viola
 * Bruce Nauman
 * Carolee Schneemann
 * Candice Breitz
 * Christian Marclay
 * Dumb Type
 * Doug Aitken
 * E. Jane
 * Gary Hill
 * George Bures Miller
 * Hito Steyerl
 * Ian Cheng
 * Joan Jonas
 * John Akomfrah
 * Janet Cardiff
 * Jenny Holzer
 * Jon Rubin


 * Laurie Anderson
 * Lenka Clayton
 * Lynn Hershman Leeson
 * Matthew Barney
 * Martine Syms
 * Meriem Bennani
 * Miranda July
 * Nam June Paik
 * Olafur Eliasson
 * Pierre Huyghe
 * Pipilotti Rist
 * Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
 * Richard Mosse
 * Shigeko Kubota
 * Shirin Neshat
 * Shu Lea Cheang
 * Sondra Perry
 * Steven Vitiello
 * Tacita Dean
 * Tourmaline
 * Team Lab
 * Valie Export
 * WangShui
 * Yoko Ono