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Homepage. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab). Design by Kommerz.
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Opening sequence keyword animation. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab) homepage.
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“Labor” keyword page. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab). Design by Kommerz.
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“Carolee Schneemann” keyword page. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab). Design by Kommerz.
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“Intergenerational” keyword page. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab). Design by Kommerz.
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“Resilience” keyword page. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab). Design by Kommerz.
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“If I Seem” object entry page. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab). Design by Kommerz.
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“You Are Your Own Institution” object entry page. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab). Design by Kommerz.
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“Unlabelled Digitized Slice #17” object entry page. giftsciencearchive.net.(opens in a new tab) Design by Kommerz.
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“It’s important” object entry page. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab). Design by Kommerz.
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“I Am The Only One Doing It Right” object entry page. giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab). Design by Kommerz.
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Preliminary sketch of cataloging elements and layout. Gift Science Archive, January 2020. Drawing by Megan Hoetger.
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Double page spread. Gift Science Archive catalog entry in We Had Plans: A book published on the occasion of the 150th year of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, which happened to coincide with a global pandemic during which resident artists continued to work collaboratively as well as individually on their respective practices, whilst also navigating what could be called expanded practice(opens in a new tab) (Amsterdam: Rijksakademie, 2021). Left: “Why Am I Archiving” statement by Sands Murray-Wassink. Right: Preliminary sketch of cataloging elements and layout for Gift Science Archive, January 2020. Drawing by Megan Hoetger.
giftsciencearchive.net is an experimental online archive database cataloging nearly 2400 ‘studio objects’ from the art/life practice of painter and body artist Sands Murray-Wassink. Expanding the boundaries of performance documentation, the database is also a “document” of the eponymously titled 18-month collaborative performance Gift Science Archive. The database is, then, both an archive and documentation of a performance of archiving, with all of the storytelling methods and reproductive labor roles operative therein. Departing from conventions of cataloging, it traces the web-like network of relations that characterize Murray-Wassink’s practice, highlighting the affective and mnemonic registers through which objects and their stories can be entered.
With an archive of meta-archive conversations(opens in a new tab) conducted by project collaborator Radna Rumping, an index featuring sixteen keywords conceived by Hoetger and Amalia Calderón, and a range of different filters through which to enter the archive, the database offers multiple ways to relate in and to the artist’s practice. For an in-depth overview of the database infrastructure, see Hoetger’s essay “Honouring Sands’s Horsepower” at giftsciencearchive.net(opens in a new tab).
giftsciencearchive.net formed part of the commission Gift Science Archive, which Hoetger led as part of the Edition VIII - Ritual and Display biennial program (2019-2021) for If I Can’t Dance, Amsterdam. The project was co-produced with mistral, Amsterdam and Auto Italia, London with support from the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.
Hoetger served as lead architect and general editor of the database, working in collaboration with Amalia Calderón as editorial assistant and Kommerz (Bram Nijssen and Marcel van den Berg) on the website’s design and development.