Art Documentation

Art Documentation is the official journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, 1982–present. It includes articles and information relevant to art librarianship and visual resources curatorship. Since 1996, it has been published twice yearly (spring and fall). Art Documentation is published for ARLIS/NA by University of Chicago Press, which supports green open access for all of its journals. Subscription to Art Documentation is included as part of ARLIS/NA membership.

Members-only Access

ARLIS/NA members may access Art Documentation electronically via a controlled access site:

Members-only access to Art Documentation

Authors

Authors who wish to publish their work in Art Documentation should consult the Contributor Guidelines.

Authors may self-archive their own articles and make them freely available through institutional repositories after a one-year embargo. Authors may also post their articles in their published form on their personal or departmental web pages or personal social media pages, use the article in teaching or research presentations, provide single copies in print or electronic form to their colleagues, or republish the article in a subsequent work, subject to giving proper credit to the original publication of the article in Art Documentation, including reproducing the exact copyright notice as it appears in the journal.

Non-member Access to Journal

To purchase individual issues please contact University of Chicago Press customer service online; by email at subscriptions@press.uchicago.edu; or via phone at +1 877-705-1878 (toll-free, U.S. & Canada), or +1 773-753-3347 (International).

Tables of Contents

To search Art Documentation contents 1982–present, visit the journal home page with the University of Chicago Press.

Current Issue Abstracts

Art Documentation Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring 2024)

Open Access in the Field of Contemporary Art: Examining Challenges and Opportunities Through the e-artexte Thematic Repository
Hélène Brousseau, Jessica Hébert, and Jonathan Lachance

Abstract— The prevalence of open access varies according to many factors, including the types of documentary objects and the requirements set by funding agencies. The art world presents particular documentation challenges, including a complex ecosystem of knowledge producers that extends beyond the walls of the academic community. This article examines open access in the contemporary art world. Using two case studies of the dissemination of open-access textual materials in the thematic digital repository e-artexte, the authors demonstrate that open-access digital self-archiving practices, whereby authors, publishers, and artists may submit a digital version of a publication directly to a repository where it is made available to the public, can provide more equitable and inclusive accessibility to contemporary art information, and amplify the voices of underrepresented artists, curators, and authors in the field.

Frida Kahlo’s Art as a Canvas for Knowledge: Visual Thinking Strategies Enriching Nursing Education through Librarian and Faculty Collaboration
Jacqueline Huddle, Amy Minix, Meg Moorman, and Kim A. Decker

Abstract— Critical visual literacy skills are a necessary skill set for all educational disciplines, including nursing. This article describes the use of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) to help nursing students build empathy and critical thinking abilities for the visual analyses of future patients. The VTS session focused on the painting The Broken Column by Frida Kahlo and was developed from a collaboration between two nursing faculty and two academic librarians. The purpose of sharing this experience is to inspire art librarians and others in visual literacy-adjacent fields to collaborate with subject librarians to build critical visual literacy skills, particularly in the health disciplines.

Amplifying Access to Feminist Art: Cross-Institutional Collaboration to Create the Judy Chicago Research Portal
Sharon Mizota and Binky Lush

Abstract— Feminist artist Judy Chicago has been creating art since the mid 1960s and continues to be a prominent voice in the field. Instrumental in establishing the feminist art movement of the 1970s, Chicago addresses themes from women’s lives and other social justice concerns in her work and art education. Judy Chicago is perhaps best known for her iconic collaborative undertaking The Dinner Party (1974–1979), which includes thirty-nine place settings on a table, each honoring an important figure in women’s history. The Dinner Party is just one work, however, in a career that spans artistic schools and embraces a variety of media from pyrotechnics to needlework. This paper presents a case study in the development of an online portal aggregating multiple institutions’ archives of Judy Chicago. The project represents a model for collaboration, iterative development, and improving access and discoverability for both feminist art archives and for collections in smaller institutions. The current project partners are two academic libraries, two museums, two foundations, and the artist’s studio.

[This article is an expansion of a paper presented at the 51st annual ARLIS/NA conference held in Mexico City in April 2023, as part of the session “Collective Efforts: Transformative Research Portals & Catalogue Raisonné Projects.”]

Building Legacies: Documenting Mid-Century Modern Architecture on Campus
Lindsay E. Shannon and Rebecca Skirvin

Abstract— Modernism defines most American campuses, with the largest building campaigns taking place between 1940 and 1970. Campus art libraries and archives collections should provide a comprehensive guide to locating resources relating to the campus built environment, as well as primary source collections, as an important service for researchers on a vital period of campus history. Making records on campus infrastructure and architecture accessible for teaching with primary sources and faculty or undergraduate research allows for the campus to become a learning laboratory and for more diverse perspectives on planning and use to be heard.

In the Artist's Words
Marina Marchini Macambyra and Vânia Mara Alves Lima

Abstract— This article is based on the premise that, with using an artist’s words, it is possible to represent and retrieve knowledge, and consequently the information, present in a work of art. For this analysis, the authors selected works by artists in the Digital Library of Artistic Production (BDPA). The BDPA is an image database that aims to be a specific and efficient resource for cataloging, indexing, displaying, and retrieving photographic records of artworks and theoretical reflections about them. The article concludes that this method of analysis makes it possible to improve both the accuracy and relevance of indexing for researchers, being one of the best ways to explore the meanings in the works they study.

[This article is an expansion of a paper presented at the 51st annual ARLIS/NA conference held in Mexico City in April 2023, as part of the session “Transformative Approaches to Description and Access in Collections.”]

From Mediascapes to Ideoscapes: A Disembodied and an Embodied Romanian Performance at the Venice Biennale
Ileana Nicoleta Sălcudean

Abstract— How does one identify reference points in a complicated maze of overlapping cultural policy, cultural identity, and cultural memory? This paper explores the ways in which cultural expressions endeavor to bridge the gap between past, present, and future as well as how they are represented in the media. In 2005, a conspicuously empty Romanian pavilion at the Venice Biennale sparked controversy and became one of the most politicized events of the season. Amid Romania’s valiant efforts to join the European Union, the Euroskepticism of the participating artists prompted strong reactions. In 2013, Romanian artists mounted an “immaterial retrospective” of the Biennale, transforming objects into action and condensing one hundred years into one day. With this dynamic performance, art history was questioned, reinterpreted, and illustrated by body representations, as human reverberations of the past. The representation of the body in art can serve as a reflection of societal values, cultural norms, and even individual emotions throughout history. The aim of this paper is to analyze the archived images of the two editions of the Venice Biennale, created and disseminated nationally and internationally, but also to describe how these images constitute politically potent ideoscapes. It tackles this topic from the wider perspective of cultural studies; the concept of “embodied memory” will be the basis for highlighting the performances selected as case studies. The paper also discusses the role of the human body in constructing or “performing” Romanian identity in the European context and raises questions related to the autonomy of the aesthetic body and the non-referential language of art.

Defining Design Research: Exploratory Survey of Architecture Librarians
Tess Colwell and Jessica Quagliaroli

Abstract— This paper examines design research in architecture and its intersection with academic library research support and services in North America. Design research is a term used in both library and architecture literature, but a single definition for this work is challenging to identify, particularly when investigating how design research differs from other research methodologies and how libraries can support students pursuing work in this area. Surveying their peers, the authors investigated how architecture librarians and archivists are supporting design research at their academic institutions. The survey results revealed a shared understanding among practitioners of design research but not a clear definition or research support model.

Creating Art in the Library at Florida State University: Integrating Art Exhibitions and Academic Libraries
Leah Reilly Sherman, Jessica Barmon, Dianna S. Bradley, and Crystal Mathews

Abstract— This article traces the development of the newly formed Art in the Library Committee at Florida State University Libraries, with a special focus on its exhibitions programming. The scope of this study spans planning the first Art in the Library exhibition in mid-2022 through the fall 2023 show. The conclusions offer lessons learned and takeaways aimed at art librarians and other information professionals working specifically in academic libraries who may be interested in founding such an art exhibitions program at their home institutions.

In the “Daddy Tank”: Visual Activism, Performance, and Archives of Butchlalis de Panochtitlan
Melissa Aslo de la Torre

Abstract— Drawing from a moment of archival encuentro—or meeting—between archivist and oral history subject, this paper addresses the intersection of visual activism, performance, and archives in the work of Butchlalis de Panochtitlan (BdP), a queer Chicana/Latina multimedia performance group active in Southern California between 2002 and 2010. Examining the use of oral history, sketch performance, and visual imagery in BdP’s performance of “Daddy Tank,” from their 2006 work Teenage Papi: The Remix, and engaging interdisciplinary understandings of “archives,” the author argues that reading BdP’s performance as an archive is critical to understanding their visual activism as one that recuperates and preserves queer narratives of Chicana/Latina butch intimacies, kinship, and spaces in Southern California. Drawing from José Esteban Muñoz’s understanding of ephemera and Diana Taylor’s concept of repertoire, the author considers how performances of “Daddy Tank” function as acts of transfer and queer world-making. By dually engaging definitions of archives rooted in archival practice and expansive definitions of archives from outside the professional field, the article considers the reverberations of historical silences and the responsibility of archivists and archival repositories in response.

[This article is a revision of the paper that received the 2023 Gerd Muehsam Award. The award recognizes excellence in a paper written by a graduate student on a topic relevant to art librarianship or visual resources curatorship.]

R.A.T.’s Nest: A Case Study in Archival Bonds, Orphan Work Research, and Applying Radical Empathy
Calista Donohoe

Abstract— This case study considers the phenomenon of emotional attachment in archival processing, and it offers radical empathy as a practical counterpoint to its consequences. An investigation to establish orphan work status for a mysterious donation of photographs to the New York Public Library Picture Collection led to unexpected revelations that reshaped the author’s understanding of the images. Applying Caswell and Cifor’s feminist ethics of care model, directions for treating the body of work with radical empathy are critically examined. Considerations extend beyond obligations to the record creator, encompassing the people depicted in the photographs, users of the Picture Collection, and groups affected by its use. The essay concludes with a discussion of how the experience may be represented in a digital collection. Practical techniques for applying radical empathy are explored, including the representation of materiality and the creation of ethical metadata. Additionally, recommendations for hypothetical access to the digitized collection are provided. Reflecting on the evolving meaning of these photographs as they integrate into the Picture Collection, the author emphasizes their potential to cater to diverse users while acknowledging the challenges associated with dismantling privilege in archival practices.