How New York's Swiss Institute Is Digitizing Its Archives for the Web

Times are changing for the art world's archivists. As with everything else, the traditionally-analog approach to archiving is becoming digitized and, in the future, virtual. New York City contemporary art organization Swiss Institute is doing just that with its campaign to digitize its considerable archives, which the group plans to make openly accessible on their current website.

What is seen in art galleries and museums is a mere fraction of the whole. Hidden within their collections, secure behind closed doors and vaults, or perhaps even in different locations entirely, lie vast archives of artworks, documents, and other recorded media. The stuff that proves invaluable to scholars, journalists and the curious alike. Indeed, the information set aside for future generations. But Swiss Institute hopes to make those archives available to everyone at any time.

Known for exhibitions and retrospectives that emphasize the work of Swiss and European artists within the melting pot of New York City, Swiss Institute has long been careful about preserving its archive. But, as Institute Director Simon Castets told Motherboard, Hurricane Sandy sounded an alarm within the corridors of the organization's building on 18 Wooster Street in Soho.

"As was the case with many downtown institutions and galleries, Hurricane Sandy was a huge wake-up call," Castets said. "Our space was severely damaged by the storm, but most of our archival objects luckily remained unscathed. Nonetheless, the team decided that it was time to really get this digital archive project off the ground, literally. This history deserves to be protected and shared."

Swiss Institute's building currently houses an archive of approximately 10,000 individual items. Most are letters and other correspondence, documents, press clippings, photographs, slides and videos. The team is currently in the process of digital archiving this information, and recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to accelerate the work.

As Castets said, the project has three main inspirations: Ubuweb, New Museum's Digital Archive and White Column's Archive In Progress. Ubuweb, an avant-garde art database founded in 1996 by American poet Kenneth Goldsmith, might be the most crucial. Goldsmith sought to create an open access web archive—operating as a gift economy—of out-of-print books and documents, videos, sound art and other works from artists like the Dadaists and Surrealists to writers like Samuel Beckett and J. G. Ballard.

"Ubuweb is a pioneer for digital archiving of artistic production, and is an endless treasure trove," Castets said. "The ease with which one can peruse the site was influential in the creation of our archive, and so was that of the New Museum, which has always been actively embracing the digital realm."

"But we also looked at White Columns' archive as an exemplary effort by an organization of similar dimension," he added. "To us it will be key to have a streamlined interface that keeps the search process as fluid as possible and create a layout to ensure that our images remain as resplendent as possible, and also include as much video content as possible."

Castets said the team is taking files from storage, then scanning and uploading them to their server. Swiss Institute's digital archive runs on a custom software called Collective Access, which integrates with their existing website.

"The archive will be fully integrated into our website, and prominently displayed," Castets said. "But beyond the immediate context of the page's design, the archive will be linked to a 30th anniversary exhibition and to a book, to be published next spring."

Castets said that the three projects act as an extension of one another. So, if a user encounters one aspect of the 30th anniversary projects, they are likely to encounter the others.

But Swiss Institute's new archival work is not all smooth digital sailing. Funding, in particular, has been the group's greatest challenge. Castets said that such projects always end up exceeding initial estimates, but they were lucky to partner with Art Basel, who organized the successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.

This effort, however, goes beyond mere logistical or financial challenges. Castets said it's easy to forget that the very nature of the archival work is human.

"We are collecting human actions and achievements," he noted. "Something we are really focusing on is collecting an oral history of the Swiss Institute, which we have been working on the past few months by filming all of the people who have played or are playing a role in Swiss Institute's history at one time or another."

"Histories keep developing, documents keep being printed, art keeps being created," he added. "When you're trying to accumulate an archive, you're ultimately working against time."

There have also been many delightful surprises throughout the process. A collaboration with graduate students at the School of Visual Arts' Curatorial Studies program brought several interesting discoveries to the institute's attention. For instance, it was inspiring for Castets and the team to see that, even in the late 80s, Swiss Institute has fostered a multidisciplinary outlook with global perspectives.

"It was all there from day one," he said. "That's the thing about this project—it's not about nostalgia; it's about what's going on right now, and how we can study what we did in the past in order to ensure a better future for the institute."

The Institute was also reminded that its first exhibition was a design show. The archival materials for the show will, according to Castets, prove quite useful in preparation for their Second Annual Architecture and Design serie by PIN UP's Felix Burrichter, slated to open this fall.

Castets said the digital archival process also revealed an early commitment to conceptual works. This can be seen to this day with Swiss Institute's current solo exhibition by Niele Toroni, who always works with identical brushstrokes (n° 50 paintbrush at regular 30-cm intervals), while arguing that each piece is fundamentally different. The team also saw an early effort to create a platform for emerging artists. This mindset has carried over into the present day with the exhibition of art by Dora Budor (part of their ONE FOR ALL series), who often works with the illusions pioneered in Hollywood filmmaking.

Swiss Institute is also thinking of crowdsourcing the archival process through social media.

"Swiss Institute has a unique history in New York, and over the years, we have carved a position as an essential vehicle to promote contemporary art in the city," Castets said. "We want this archive to chart this progress, and communicate the ways in which we have played a modest yet resolute part in shaping a conversation looking across national borders."

"The entire process has been an exercise in understanding what our institution has been, and building upon that legacy in order to carry out and continuously expand upon the mission of Swiss Institute," he added.