Documenting Hybrid Mixed Media Art Forms: The Role of the Audience

Documentation plays a key role in the conservation of art, yet a key factor in documentation, the role played by the audience in the design, experience and documentation of art, is generally overlooked. In complex hybrid artworks the role of the audience is key to understand how an artwork is conceived and received. While researchers and museums have started to address this gap, it remains to be seen how best to include both documentations about the role of the audience and documentations by the audience in museum documentation. The chapter looks into a number of case studies which illustrate the significance of the role of the audience in documenting contemporary art and discusses the responsibilities of researchers and museum professionals in facilitating the conservation of materials produced by and about the audience in their archives and/or collections.