A Restoration (2016)

Elizabeth Price

two-screen digital video

Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford

Classification:

Moving Image

Materials:

Digital film, Digital video, 16mm film

Dimensions:

18:30 minutes

Accession Number:

WA2016.187

Credit:

Presented by the Contemporary Art Society through its Annual Award, funded by the Sfumato Foundation, 2013

Scheme:

Annual Award (2009-2015)

Ownership history:

Commissioned by The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, in partnership with the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art; presented to the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford by the Contemporary Art Society, through its Annual Award, funded by the Sfumato Foundation, 2013

Relationship:

Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art, University of Oxford Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford

Subject:

Anthropology, Archaeology, Museum display, Collection, Digital technology

Informed by mainstream cinema and experimental film, Price’s work is concerned with the medium of digital video and its comparative ubiquity in today’s culture. Price’s commission will explore the archives and collections of the Ashmolean Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum (which cares for Oxford’s holdings of anthropology and world archaeology), in particular the photographs of artefacts and documents created by curators and by anthropologists and archaeologists working in the field. The new work will disclose the differing taxonomic systems that have shaped and been employed by the two institutions while simultaneously engaging with the social and psychological implications of digital technologies.

The work, to comprise of a single-screen video, will present and narrate artefacts from the Ashmolean’s collection, with a focus on the female figure and the photographic and archival means of disclosing this figure over time. The commission will enable the Ashmolean Museum to add a significant moving image work to its existing holdings of contemporary art, to be premiered in Oxford upon completion, and will be a timely addition to the museum’s 330th anniversary celebrations in 2015.

All rights reserved. Any further use will need to be cleared with the rights holder. Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited. The collection that owns this artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

For further information, please consult our section of our copyright policy.