Reshaping the Collectible When Artworks Live in the Museum: The Lives of Net Art
Part of the project Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum, The Lives of Net Art is a body of research into fifteen works of net art commissioned by Tate in 2000–11. This introduction profiles the essays that document this research and its findings, focusing on the museum's role in supporting net artists and preserving their works. What might the future lives of these net artworks be and how might Tate’s collection be reshaped under their influence?
Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum is a major research project focused on recent and contemporary artworks that challenge the practices of the museum. It will contribute to theory and practice in collection care, curation and museum management.
The research is grounded in six case studies drawn from works in the Tate collection; works that unfold over time and exist in multiple forms. These challenge the boundaries between artwork, record and archive and rely on complex networks of people, skills and technologies outside of the museum.
At the heart of this initiative is a desire to open up the museum and provide a generous invitation to Tate’s public, making visible the invisible lives of artworks as they unfold within, and in dialogue with, the museum.
