The Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Research Institute, and Tate will host a major international conference at Tate Modern in London November 18–20, 2015, focusing on the implications of collecting time-based media works of art and on related practices. This two-and-a-half-day conference aims to foster lively, interdisciplinary dialogue about the impact of technological change on an artwork and the growing networks of professionals required to support contemporary media artworks and their conservation.

Can works change and evolve within the museum and still serve art history? What are the key moments of transition and engagement in the lives of time-based media artworks? Can works be created with future forms of display or realization in mind? How does collecting time-based media and performance change the frame in which we consider the conservation of other works? What are the implications for these works if the networks of production and expertise are lost? If we change the approach to conservation while working with artists now, can we also do that when these works have become historical rather than contemporary collections? In migrating a work, do we leave traces of its former life? What is the nature of the invitation to an artist when a work enters the museum collection, and how does that relationship evolve?

These themes will be explored through a number of sessions, organized around a case study or a specific theme. The conference will also include show-and-tell sessions to demonstrate the impact of a specific technological change on the experience of time-based media works of art. To find out more and register, please visit: www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/conference/media-transition.