Field Art@The Historiotheque
Strategic intermedia art, one move at a time.
About Historiotheque
Historiotheque
- The Historiothèque is the name that I have given to my Atelier, French for art studio;
- I am in the process of revamping the space and want to annotate, document, and archive the process of putting it together;
- Hopefully, in keeping this record of the building of the first official Historiothèque in human history, others will be able to follow suit and build their own;
- The Historiothèque, the name, is inspired in part by Paul Otlet’s concept of “Mondothèque”, in his conception of the Mundaneum in general.
History of The Historiotheque Concept
- In the city of Montreal, Quebec, in the summer of 2008, I lived in a duplex with 5–6 other people;
- These people had founded a non-profit organization which “did philanthropy through the arts & culture”;
- They were having their Board Meetings upstairs in my apartment and I was the official Note-Taker;
- I took the minutes and then had a quick 15-minute private meeting with the President to give him a breakdown of what I heard and saw during the meeting;
- I ended up also writing their Mission and Vision statements, for their organization, as well as all of the textual content for their website;
- I was also in charge of information security in the Main Office;
- At one point, I was asked to build an Art Studio or Atelier in a section of the inner courtyard which was covered with a ceiling (the rest of the courtyard was an open space, exposed to the elements);
- In the process of building the Atelier, I came up with the concept of a complete Art-House;
- Others must have had similar concepts before, but my Vision was unique;
- The Art-House was going to have a) an art studio and b) an archive;
- In essence, it would function as a kind of Workspace as well as a Museum of sorts;
- I envisioned the Museum as being The Museum of Modern Antiquity;
- The Art-House would have two floors, one for each storey of the duplex that would house it until we could build our own;
- The Concept For The Art-House quickly became the concept for my own Art Studio, which I came to called The Historiotheque;
- Later, I realized that my Atelier had always been a Historiotheque;
- That is to say, I had been living in, and then moving, my Art Operation in a studio space, i.e. The Historiotheque
What is The Historiotheque?
- The term Historiotheque is a term I made up, basing myself on the Greek ἵστωρ (hístōr, “witness”) and θήκη (thḗkē, “box, chest”), essentially making it a Witness-Box;
- The simple idea was as with the original conception of the Art-House, namely, that it would house a studio space a.k.a. The Art Operation as well as an active Archive;
- The Archive would contain the entire documentary of the Historiotheque as well as kind of be a History-House for the local culture of The Historiotheque, and by active archive I meant that you would have archivists working in the archives every day;
- The Archivists would have the basic function of bringing value to the archive, essentially being like a Library for all the Documentation of the art practices and work methods of The Historiotheque;
- In my new vision of The Historiotheque, you could have a multiplicity of Historiotheques distributed across the land;
- It was a new kind of Cultural Institution, similar to a Museum, Art Gallery, Historical Society, and Art Studio/Atelier, yet different;
- What made it different was that you had both The Art Operation AND Archives housed in the same building;
- Later on, closer to 2009–2010, I began working with another non-profit organization which had a Workshop Space;
- I tried to integrate myself into the Team, but was never really able to do anything concrete with them;
- I did want to provide my services to clean up and rearrange their Workspace to make it more efficient and streamlined;
- I had been studying the principles and theory of Axiomatic Design and wanted to apply these to their Workspace;
- I never got to doing this, so I just focused on my own Workspace and so founded the first official Historiotheque
What happened after that?
- Then what happened is that I designed my workspace to be MODULAR, with what I called variable geometry, to borrow a term once used in Quebec for a new theater they built;
- The space was modular in the sense that I could rearrange and reorganize the space any way I wanted, to do anything I wanted;
- The space was an Art Studio/Atelier during the day, and a Recording Studio/Sound Laboratory at night;
- I had already come up with a Vision Statement years prior for what I called The DesignWebLabs, which I called THE PILLARS OF DESIGN, a name which I later found out someone else had begun using, so I scrapped that idea;
- I wanted the DesignWebLabs to literally be a design studio, for visual and sound design, that was distributed over space, over any amount of space, i.e. Globally and so forth;
- All the design work would be done over the Internet, so in essence it was a Distributed Virtual Workspace;
- When that idea failed, after writing a functional specification, sharing it online, and trying to get people to help work on this Project, I took the Web out of WebLabs and just made it a Design Lab, which I called my Laboratory or Art Operations Control Center, or just Art Operation.
Where is it going?
- The Historiotheque has been in a new location for the last 7 years;
- It was the first thing I set up when I moved here, the Studio Space AND the Archives;
- Now it’s running The Historiotheque Official Release v.3.0.2;
- The Official Releases are like the Operating System for the Art Operation;
I’m going over the Archives with a fine-tooth comb, looking at all of the interdisciplinary art-research projects to find all the golden nuggets that resurface; - I am publishing new and old works almost daily on social media, mostly images with accompanying, elucidating text, but also music and sound design;
- I’m also working on brand new projects which will officially be launching soon;
- I’m trying to write longer pieces on Medium about the complex conceptual systems behind The Historiotheque and its many Projects.
IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE Historiotheque
ON THE GENERAL CONCEPT OF HISTORIOTHEQUE AND "NEW DOCUMENTATION" PRACTICES FOR PRESERVING CULTURE
2024-05-07 04:01:30
The Historiotheque, envisioned as a unique blend of art studio and active archive, presents a novel approach to preserving the documentary (cultural) heritage of humankind. Building upon existing efforts outlined previously, the Historiotheque offers several innovative strategies to further enhance the preservation and dissemination of cultural knowledge:
1. Integrated Workspace and Archive: The concept of the Historiotheque as both a studio space and an active archive fosters a symbiotic relationship between artistic creation and historical documentation. By housing the art operation alongside the archive, the Historiotheque ensures that documentation occurs concurrently with artistic production, facilitating the preservation of cultural heritage in real-time.
2. Modular Design and Variable Geometry: The modular design of the Historiotheque, with its variable geometry, allows for flexible adaptation to changing needs and functions. This adaptability not only enhances efficiency within the workspace but also enables the seamless integration of diverse artistic practices and interdisciplinary research projects, thereby enriching the archival content and cultural diversity preserved within the Historiotheque.
3. Active Archivists and Value Creation: The employment of archivists dedicated to the daily maintenance and enrichment of the archive ensures ongoing value creation within the Historiotheque. These archivists play a crucial role in curating, organizing, and annotating documentary materials, thereby transforming the archive into a dynamic repository of cultural knowledge accessible to both present and future generations.
4. Digital Publication and Social Media Engagement: Leveraging digital platforms such as social media and online publishing, the Historiotheque expands its reach and impact by disseminating archival content to a global audience. Through regular publication of images, text, music, and sound design, the Historiotheque facilitates public engagement with cultural heritage while fostering dialogue and exchange within the broader community.
5. Interdisciplinary Art-Research Projects: By actively engaging in interdisciplinary art-research projects, the Historiotheque generates new knowledge and insights that contribute to the preservation and interpretation of cultural heritage. These projects serve as creative expressions of cultural memory and identity, enriching the archive with diverse perspectives and narratives that reflect the complexity of human experience.
6. Educational Initiatives and Knowledge Sharing: The Historiotheque serves as a platform for educational initiatives and knowledge sharing, offering workshops, seminars, and exhibitions that engage the public in dialogue about the importance of preserving cultural heritage. Through these initiatives, the Historiotheque fosters a culture of appreciation for the arts and humanities while empowering individuals to become active participants in the preservation process.
In conclusion, the Historiotheque represents a pioneering model for the preservation of documentary heritage, blending artistic innovation with archival stewardship to safeguard the cultural treasures of humankind. By embracing principles of collaboration, adaptability, and public engagement, the Historiotheque demonstrates a commitment to sustaining the sacred fire of cultural knowledge across generations and ensuring that the lessons of history are learned and preserved for the benefit of humanity.
2024-05-07 04:03:34
The New Documentation: Enabling Continuous Delivery in Artistic Practice
At the Historiotheque, we embrace "The New Documentation" as a fundamental aspect of our mission to revolutionize artistic practice through transparency, accountability, and reproducibility. Our approach to preserving the documentary (cultural) heritage of humankind involves implementing systematic documentation practices inspired by the principles outlined in "The New Documentation." Here's how we envision incorporating these practices into our operations:
1. Foundations of The New Documentation: We recognize the importance of transparency, integrity, responsibility, and reproducibility in documenting artistic processes. By adhering to these principles, we ensure that every aspect of our creative endeavors is meticulously logged and made publicly accessible.
2. Continuous Logging: Artists at the Historiotheque maintain detailed logs of their artistic processes, including ideation, research, experimentation, decision-making, and collaboration. These logs are continuously updated throughout the duration of each project, providing a comprehensive record of the creative journey.
3. Public-Facing Spaces: We publish our documentation in publicly accessible spaces, such as distributed revision control systems like Git repositories. This ensures that our documentation is available to anyone interested in our artistic work, fostering transparency and enabling others to learn from and build upon our processes.
4. Versioning and Iteration: Utilizing version control systems, such as Git, artists at the Historiotheque track changes in their work over time. This allows for iterative development, collaboration with other artists and researchers, and a transparent record of the evolution of each project.
5. Documentation Standards: We establish standards for documenting various aspects of artistic practice, including visual documentation, written reflections, annotations, and metadata. By adhering to these standards, we ensure consistency and clarity in our documentation practices.
6. Peer Review and Feedback: Artists at the Historiotheque actively engage in peer review and seek feedback from the artistic community to improve their documentation and refine their artistic processes. This collaborative approach fosters dialogue, exchange, and continuous improvement within our creative community.
By embracing "The New Documentation" and integrating its principles into our operations, the Historiotheque empowers artists to share their creative journey transparently, contribute to the collective knowledge of the artistic community, and preserve the documentary heritage of humankind for future generations. Through systematic documentation practices, we strive to democratize creativity, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and advance the boundaries of artistic innovation in the digital age.
A.G. (c) 2024. All Rights Reserved.
