Summer 2021 Art Conservation Lecture Series

Filmed as part of the Summer 2021 Art Conservation Lecture Series.

June 10, 2021

ELENA TOROK, LANCE LANDER, and KATIE PROVINCE

Filmed by the O'Donnell Institute, June 2021

ELENA TOROK, LANCE LANDER, and KATIE PROVINCE

Dallas Museum of Art

Installation and Preservation of Time-Based Media Art at the Dallas Museum of Art

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) has over 70 time-based media works in its actively growing Contemporary Art collection. These types of works (which include film, video, audio, and computer-based art) can be challenging to acquire, install, and preserve. To address these complicated and evolving needs, the DMA has established an in-house Time-Based Media Art Working Group that is made up of members from five different departments. The work of this group, its future goals, and some recent projects are shared in this presentation.



BIOS

Elena Torok is the Associate Objects Conservator at the Dallas Museum of Art, where she works on the treatment, research, and long-term care of objects in the collection. Since 2017, she has worked with an interdepartmental team at the DMA to develop and implement collection care plans for time-based media artworks at the museum. She earned her M.S. from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation in 2013 with concentrations in Objects Conservation and Preventive Conservation.  

Lance Lander is the Manager of Gallery Technology and Innovation for the Dallas Museum of Art. During his seventeen years at the museum, he has managed the installation of all time-based media and designs, installs, and maintains all technological components within the DMA’s exhibitions and galleries. Lance also works directly with the Conservation department to properly care and store the DMA’s media-based artworks, and recently designed and developed a “Migration Station” to transfer magnetic tapes to digital format. He has developed pioneering innovations in remote access, automation, and playback reliability. Some of his noteworthy installations include Fast Forward (2006), Phil Collins: The World Won’t Listen (2007), Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson (2008), All The World’s a Stage (2009), Private Universes: Media Works (2009), The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier (2011), Omer Fast: 5000 Feet is the Best (2012), Koki Tanaka (2013), Mirror Stage (2015), Carey Young: The New Architecture (2017), Truth: 24 frames per second (2017), Focus On: Ragnar Kjartansson (2019), Speechless: Different by Design (2019), and For a Dreamer of Houses (2020). 

Katie Province is the Associate Registrar for Collections and Exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) where she assists with acquisitions to the Permanent Collection and exhibitions. She handles all aspects of discretionary purchases and gifts including vendor/donor relations, shipping, and accession into the Collection. Katie has worked on some of the DMA’s most notable recent exhibitions including México 1900-1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, and the Avant-Garde (2017), Jonas Wood (2019), and For a Dreamer of Houses (2020). Katie received her MFA in Art History from Texas Christian University in 2011, during which time she held internships at the Kimbell Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Prior to joining the DMA, she worked on several grant projects and was the Collections Assistant at the Amon Carter.