NYU Moving Image Archiving & Preservation collaborates with University of Miami to preserve the work of Buky Schwartz
The Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) program at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the University of Miami’s Norton Herrick Center for Motion Picture Studies have joined forces with the Estate of Buky Schwartz to preserve the late artist’s extensive archive of multimedia works.
From the mid-1970s, Schwartz’s installations employed video and closed-circuit television to shape a viewer’s perception of sculpture and space. MIAP graduate student Eddy Colloton has catalogued, assessed, and planned for the preservation of Schwartz’s video works as part of a year-long thesis project, presented at the Michelson Theater in NYU Tisch’s Department of Cinema Studies.
Buky Schwartz (1932–2009) is a key figure in the history of video art. His seminal pieces, such as Painted Projection (1977, Smithsonian American Art Museum) and Yellow Triangle (1979, Whitney Museum of American Art), offer sophisticated explorations of artistic process, illusion, and space. The collaboration will help document and preserve the artist’s videotapes, photography, and site-specific installations.
“This is an important undertaking that will bring the artist’s accomplishments to a new generation of curators, artists, and scholars,” said film and video art curator John G. Hanhardt, who worked closely with Buky Schwartz.
Colloton’s thesis project focuses on Schwartz’s single-channel video works and video-based installations. In January, Colloton travelled to Miami to perform an assessment of the audiovisual materials in Schwartz’s collection, referencing documents and photographs to understand their original installation.
“We are very pleased to be forging this partnership with the NYU MIAP program,” said Christina Lane, Director of the Norton Herrick Center for Motion Picture Studies. “This collaboration offers us a terrific opportunity to facilitate and promote film and video research, conservation, and education.”
“Buky Schwartz’s work occupies a unique and exciting moment in the history of video art,” said Colloton. “His ability to harness what was then a new medium for artistic practice was significantly ahead of its time. My goal is to simplify that complexity and make Buky Schwartz’s work more accessible to everyone.”
“We are thrilled that Eddy Colloton chose to work with us for his project,” said Estate Director Shlomi Ron. “Colloton’s work will help illustrate the artistic process as part of a preservation plan to make the collection available for future researchers and the public.”