Data-sheet

The data-sheet

The data-sheet of Project Marta — Monitoring Art Archive is a document drawn up on the basis of preliminary research into the artist’s exhibition and stylistic path, the nature of the artwork and its meaning. This background is then deepened during the technical interview with the artist. After the interview, the collected data is further reviewed and completed with the collaboration of Project Marta’s technical consultants — restorers, conservators, installers, transporters.

How it works

The data-sheet is divided into four main sections:

1. Artwork specifications: basic characteristics — from dimensions and weight to the number of compositional elements, from the artist’s history to the artwork’s exhibition history, from its meaning to the evolution of the creative path.
2. Technique and materials used: reasons for the choices, trade names, compositions and mixtures, suppliers and collaborators, the durability characteristics of the artwork.
3. Relationship with the viewer and the space: exhibition standards, environmental parameters, instructions for setup and dismantling, packaging and transport.
4. Ordinary and extraordinary maintenance: storage and upkeep, conservation history of the artwork, measures relating to restoration work already carried out or that may take place in the future.

The closing section reports the consent on the maintenance methods for the artworks, drafted by a legal expert in art law and complete with rules on the authorship of the document, on the confidentiality of the information produced and on how it may be used.

Once completed, the data-sheet is dated and signed by the Project Marta contact and by the artist who created the analysed artwork, thus becoming a document that records the artist’s intentions regarding the treatment of the artwork, and a reference for a deeper knowledge of the materials and techniques employed.

The data-sheet is printed in two copies: one is kept in the Project Marta archive and one accompanies the artwork throughout its existence, including — at the artist’s request — the signed Authentication certificate. A digital copy, without signatures, can be made available for consultation with the client’s consent.

The data-sheets can be accompanied by technical videos documenting the phases mentioned above, some of which are particularly labour-intensive and useful to record.