Small Data Industries

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Rochester, NY
Small Data Industries

We safeguard the permanence and integrity of the world’s artistic record by supporting and empowering people.

We are a consultancy providing services to support the collection, exhibition, preservation, and storage of time-based media art.

02/28/2024

Time-based media conservation has gained a powerful new ally ⚡️ the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) has pledged to become a significant contributor to our field. This week, an interdisciplinary group of experts convened to assess the current state of our domain, pinpoint the most pressing challenges, and determine how the GCI can offer support, particularly to those just getting started in TBM conservation. Our gathering was not only composed of leaders and innovators in conservation, archives, digital preservation, and film studies but was also enriched by the insights of artists Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Refik Anadol. After months of assisting Flavia, Voula, and the rest of the GCI team in organizing this event, it was inspiring to witness the collaboration, the exchange of ideas, and the joint vision for the future. The meeting sparked some truly visionary concepts, and all discussions and outcomes will be documented in an upcoming GCI publication. Watch this space!

02/25/2024

When time-based media conservators accessorize 💅🏼

12/05/2023

West coast rendezvous at the Getty, cooking up some exciting things with our conservation colleagues ✨ watch this space 👀

10/23/2023

Check out the latest issue of for a nice slice of time-based media conservation from and glamour shots of CTL Electronics from

09/19/2023

Recently, we've delved into the carbon impact of our conservation efforts on works of art. A detailed examination of our modernization of Gary Hill’s 'Tall Ships' (1992) unveiled impressive outcomes: a 71% decrease in energy usage, a 48% contraction in storage footprint, and a 55% carbon footprint reduction for a three-month international exhibition. Not bad!

This data was borne out of a fruitful collaboration with our peers at Glenstone. This week, their Associate Conservator, Sam Owens, is presenting these findings at the International Council of Museums Committee for Conservation.

Together with Sam and Glenstone's electrician, Nick Ecker, we measured the power demands of both the legacy and new setups. Leveraging a Fluke 438 Series II Power Quality and Motor Analyzer, we isolated each component on a unique circuit. From fifteen-minute readings, our analysis deduced the older system would consume 97 watt-hours, whereas the modern setup would demand just 29 watt-hours—a 71% reduction.

Furthermore, the equipment overhaul led to a 48% reduction in crating area and a 30% decrease in volume. With the modern system, only two crates, downsized from three, are required for transportation. This reduction in crates didn't just diminish the volume by 30% but the weight too. Plus, these newer crates are designed with a shorter stature, broadening our shipping options—whether by commercial or freight airlines.

To gauge the carbon implications of a theoretical three-month loan, a carbon calculator came into play. Our estimates point to a 55% carbon reduction when juxtaposing the old and updated systems, given both the diminished energy demands, size, and weight.

While the reduction in carbon footprint isn't often the rationale behind conservation, we hope it can offer a compelling angle that can augment the case for proposed treatments to those at the decision-making table.

09/08/2023

Time-based media doesn't just challenge traditional norms of collecting and preservation—it actually has an inherent bias towards encouraging new models of collaborative art conservation. When a collection invests in the R&D to transition a work to modern technology, it's not merely the individual piece that reaps the rewards. These breakthroughs can be shared with all of the other collections that hold editions of the work, safeguarding the artist's authentic vision and ensuring its lasting impact across all editions for years to come.

We're currently immersed in configuring a setup for ’s artist proof of "Tall Ships" (1992). This mirrors the setup we crafted for the edition owned by . With excitement, we look forward to delivering this to Gary, confident that "Tall Ships" will sail gracefully for decades to come.

What if we tapped further into this unique advantage of time-based media conservation? Imagine a future where collections, holding different editions of a masterpiece, pool their resources. Could this collective approach significantly reduce conservation costs? 🎨🔧💡

08/31/2023

Anyone order some terabytes?

08/18/2023

Cory Arcangel appreciation post 🤍 Some artists delve deep into the very questions that art conservators grapple with: obsolescence, aging, decay, and variability. Cory's work stands out in this regard. While he's long employed obsolete and sometimes esoteric retro technologies, the piece showcased in the first three images ("Mig 29 Soviet Fighter Plane, Clouds, and OS X", 2016) takes a fascinating turn. He reimagines components from a 2005 piece, "MIG 29 Soviet Fighter Plane and Clouds" (the fourth image). Instead of using his hacked Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges on vintage hardware, he introduces a new piece that runs the same modified Nintendo games within emulators on Mac OS X, revealing the full operating system including everyday elements like his calendar, sticky notes, and text editor. By being so explicit with the use of emulation, and even drawing the viewer's attention to it, Cory directly addresses the aging of the materials that feature so prominently in his early work.

This 2016 creation, too, will inevitably face technological obsolescence. And that's part of the thrill of collaborating with Cory on conservation projects. We're often peeling back layers of obsolescence, deliberate or unintended, and engaging in discussions about transitioning his work into its next technological phase while preserving his intrinsic bond with both vintage and contemporary, obsolete and relevant materials.

To add another layer of intrigue, in 2017, following his exploration into emulation the previous year, Cory was invited to Art Basel's Unlimited format with Lisson Gallery. Here, he revisited the original "MIG 29 Soviet Fighter Plane and Clouds" that runs on vintage Nintendo hardware and CRT monitors. But this time, he chose to present it as a large, immersive projected installation—a display format he'd always dreamed of as ideal for the original 2005 piece (fifth image)

08/14/2023

Happy Metadata Monday 🤓 The diagram you see here is from an interactive whiteboard we've employed to collaborate with a contemporary artist's studio. Together, we're crafting a metadata model for their new digital asset management system. This initiative is part of a larger project aimed at consolidating vast collections of materials. The end goal is to equip the studio with enhanced preservation, access, and discoverability tools for an artistic legacy that's spanned over six decades.

While delving into metadata models can seem daunting, using a collaborative tool like this whiteboard has been invaluable. It not only makes standards more accessible but also empowers our clients. Through an intuitive tool that truly anyone can use, they can actively participate and ensure the final system aligns seamlessly with their needs.

08/11/2023

Flashback to 2019: We had the privilege of working hands-on with Sondra Perry to fine-tune her video sculpture, "Graft and Ash for a Three Monitor Workstation" (2016). Collaborating closely with artists like Sondra isn't just a special privilege that adds depth to the conservation profession; it also allows us to witness the nuanced adjustments artists make. By documenting these details, we can incorporate them into installation manuals (as showcased in the third photo), ensuring that future displays align with the artist's vision.

08/09/2023

Wonderful new article on conservation, and we are in great company, quoted alongside our colleagues from and ❤️💚💙

08/04/2023

Get out your pixel microscopes 🔍 we have been working with a client on the migration of an obsolete Flash based interactive artwork.

After successfully reverse engineering the original, interviewing the artist, and implementing a new version in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (written by ) we are now testing and comparing at a very high grain of detail.

What you are looking at here is a piece of the interface only nine pixels wide. The first image shows the original running in Flash, the second shows our new iteration, and the third shows the original running in the Ruffle Flash emulator 🤓

07/18/2023

After two years, our conservation of Gary Hill’s 1992 video installation, 'Tall Ships', is complete! The original playback and control system for this legendary piece of video art history comprised sixteen LaserDisc players, as well as a custom PC and software designed by Dave Jones. As evidenced by the second photo, it involved quite a bit of equipment.

Although groundbreaking for its time, after 30 years, maintaining the original equipment had, unsurprisingly, become a formidable task and a considerable risk. After hundreds of hours meticulously studying and measuring the work’s timing and behavior, delving into the original source code time and again, and making multiple site visits to , we have completely reimagined the system.

The installation now runs on a fully enclosed, internally wired rack containing seventeen Raspberry Pi microcomputers. This modernized solution, featuring custom software, was engineered in collaboration with the brilliant Emma Dickson. We've made sure to maintain every last detail of the work’s original behavior, ensuring that despite the drastically different backend technology, the behavior of the work and the viewer's experience remain wholly unchanged.

Working with Gary, Dave, and our colleagues at Glenstone on the stewardship of this work has been an absolute pleasure and privilege. We are ensuring that this installation will continue to inspire generations to come.

Over the coming year, we will be sharing more behind-the-scenes details of this project. Stay tuned – there's much more to discover!

10/13/2020

Packing the road kit for the first time in a while!

08/03/2020

We are hiring! The new position of Preservation Coordinator is an opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience in digital preservation, and time-based media conservation. Link in bio.

05/29/2020

The art world can be pretty homogeneous, and the conservation field is no exception. We want to see this change, and we’re taking a small step in that direction today by launching a scholarship. Applications are due June 7th!

05/28/2020

🚀 Thrilled to share that we’ve teamed up with to give folks a better way of bringing art into the home. All summer, we are providing a free and LIVE 24/7 stream of generative art. First up: Daniel Canogar, until June 10th. Link in bio – enjoy!
This project wouldn’t be possible without our collaborators , who kindly donated a piece of their insanely powerful and unique cloud computing platform.

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Rochester, NY

Telephone

+13478629226

Website

http://smalldata.industries/

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