The film is always dead in the archive and it’s only when it’s in the projector and screened that it actually exists.
Locating Work
Once you have seen work and know what it is you wish to show, you need to locate appropriate materials that you can exhibit. The process involved in tracking down materials for exhibition can be time-consuming and involve lengthy discussion with rights and material holders. This process can be split into two areas: tracking down materials and negotiating access to those materials.
Locating Materials
The availability of materials, their location and condition, as well as the rental and/or access charges all affect what work you may show and how you show it. Bear these factors in mind when developing a project and be aware of the budget and time implications of sourcing and negotiating rights to materials. In depth research into the condition of materials should not be started until you are fully confident of the work you want to show.
Due to the reproducibility of film and video there are often multiple exhibition copies and even multiple rights holders. People who hold materials often have the rights or at least know of the rights holder. But this is not always the case so be prepared to have to negotiate with more than one organisation to get permission to exhibit work. The more organisations involved, the more complex and potentially expensive these negotiations will become.
There are a few key routes to tracking down materials and rights holders that can be easily followed. As a rule of thumb the easiest material to track down is work that has been recently exhibited. Work that has not been exhibited for a long time is often much harder to track down and often lack of screenings can be due to unresolved rights issues or lack of adequate exhibition materials.
Due to the diversity inherent in artists’ film and video and the wide range of contexts within which the work is produced and exhibited, there is no central location for material or rights. Focused research is the key way to track them down. There is a wealth of information on the internet and you can usually find information on artists or work you are interested in through a quick search. Here are three useful online resources for artists' moving image work that can help you track sources for work:
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British Artists' Moving Image Database
www.studycollection.org.uk/bamid
This database developed by the British Artists Film and Video Study Collection includes comprehensive information on thousands of works made in Britain with information on each work and sources where known. -
New Media Encyclopedia
www.newmedia-art.org
This is a useful catalogue of works and information based on the collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Museum Ludwig and the Centre pour l'image contemporaine. -
Cinovid
www.cinovid.org
Cinovid is a large database of international experimental film and video works drawn from festivals and international distributors, which includes genre/subject classifications, synopses of works as well as distribution sources for work.
As well as looking at these online resources you can also try the following:
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Research previous screenings and exhibitions
Recent exhibition of work is the best indication of its availability and the best guide to a possible source. Most exhibitions include some information on sources or rights holders in supporting material or publications. -
Consult distributors, archives
Explore the collections of key distributors and archives. Most of these organisations have regional specialties and either online catalogues or enquiry services. See the listing of distributors to find the most relevant starting point for your search. Visit UK Distributors & Collections or International Distributors & Collections
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Consult museums / galleries
Consult with relevant museums and galleries who have or might have shown work you are interested in. -
Consult curators / programmers
Where possible consult curators or programmes who have shown the work you are interested in. If they have recently shown the work they may be able to advise you on material and rights. Musuems and galleries often show work that is not part of their collection and the curators would be the best source of advice on finding this material.
Finally there are a range of online discussion forums where you can ask for advice on tracking down material. The key discussion forum for artists’ film and video is Frameworks. You can subscribe to receive regular updates on its discussions as well as search the archive of previous threads online. Visit the website for more information: www.hi-beam.net/fw.htm.
Exhibition formats
When looking for work to show it’s important to find materials in good condition (preview material generally should not be exhibited) and that are appropriate to your chosen venue. Exhibition formats range from film (most commonly 16mm and 35mm) to tape (most commonly BetaSP or DigiBeta) to digital formats (DVD or HD). Not all of these materials can be shown in every cinema or gallery so be sure to check which formats your intended venue can handle. Similarly most works are not available on this wide range of formats. Artists’ film work is most commonly available on 16mm film and video work is traditionally on BetaSP but increasingly now on DVD. Artists or their representatives (estate, collections, distributors, etc.) often have restrictions on how and in what format work is shown. These conditions can define whether the work is shown on a loop or in a single screening and can also sometimes specify the size of the screen as well as standard of projection equipment used.
When requesting work ask distributors or representatives to tell you about the condition of the materials that they hold. The condition of work primarily concerns film which is prone to damage and fading over time. Video material can vary greatly dependent on the quality of the format and technology used originally and to reproduce the work. If material is in very bad condition most representatives will not allow it to be screened in which case you should look to other sources. If there are no other sources you could consider working with the distributor or rights holder to make new exhibition materials. Generally if you plan to show film work for a long period of time (on a loop in an exhibition for example) the representative would generally require a new film print due to the damage caused when films are show in this way. If this is the case they would generally work with you on this. The costs and time involved in making new material can be prohibitive especially for a single screening. But if you have the time and budget it is in the best interest of the exhibitor and representative of the work to have high quality materials so there is potential to collaborate and even negotiate to share costs on this.
For a breakdown on key exhibition formats see Technical Specificationspage
Importing Material
Having to ship prints or tapes from overseas will increase the project's budget and can also generate other issues. The primary issue to be aware of with regard to tape of digital formats is the technical differences that can make the material incompatible with your exhibition equipment. The three main formats are as follows:
- PAL is the analogue television system used in UK, Europe (except France), India, China, Australia and parts of South Africa, among other countries. Its name is short for 'Phase Alternating Line'.
- NTSC is the analogue television system in use in the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Mexico and some other countries, mostly in the Americas. It is named for the 'National Television Standards Committee', the U.S. standardization body that adopted it.
- SECAM is the primary analogue television system used in France, the former Soviet Union and parts of Africa. The French system, also written SÉCAM, stands for 'Séquentiel couleur à mémoire / Sequential Colour with Memory'.
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