Research Questions

• Can these works be installed in 2016 and again using current technology? What parameters are required for the necessary migration?
  
• Can these parameters also be used with a subsequent migration?
  
• Can the artist and the experts jointly record these parameters?
  
• Can the artist and the experts jointly create a script for reinstallation?

Horizons (2008) & Shan Shui (2013)

Brief Description of the Works

Geert Mul originally created Horizons (2008) as a long-term intervention at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, where it was exhibited for over half a year. The work transforms the museum’s collection of landscape paintings into an interactive installation. The horizons of the digitised paintings are aligned and projected across the full width of a wall. As visitors move through the space, sensors trigger the paintings to “split,” revealing other paintings behind them. Rather than presenting a single artwork, Horizons enables visitors to explore an entire collection through a dynamic, data-driven experience. The museum later acquired the piece as a spatial installation that reimagines curatorial access through a databased structure.

Shan Shui (2013) was developed in response to a call for the China Expo at Raw Art Rotterdam. Like Horizons, it uses a sensor to allow visitors to interact with projected digitised paintings. This work focuses on Chinese landscape painting, highlighting elemental features such as rocks, water, clouds, and air. While Western landscape traditions emphasise spatial perspective centered on the viewer, Shan Shui explores the dynamic interaction of natural elements. Visitors activate the piece by moving through the space, triggering layered visuals that invite them into the aesthetic and philosophical world of traditional Eastern landscape art. Video documentation of the work captures how it responds to visitor movement and presence in real time.

Preservation and Challenges

Both works share a common software framework and interactive structure, including custom-built software, live-generated video and sound, and a reliance on sensor technology. However, they differ in the image collections used and in projection formats: Horizons employs a 12:3 aspect ratio (three 4:3 projections), while Shan Shui uses an 8:3 ratio (two 4:3 projections), reflecting differences in horizontal versus vertical composition traditions in Western and Eastern painting.

Preservation prospects for both works are relatively strong. They use standard computer hardware and non-proprietary, open-source operating systems and languages. The source code is accessible. Hardware dependencies include the tracking sensor, which is industrial-grade and still available with consistent connectors—although compatibility of future data protocols must be verified. The use of a serial-to-USB adapter and reliance on Nvidia graphics cards are additional technical dependencies, though efforts are being made to eliminate these. A future challenge may be securing projectors with suitable resolutions and aspect ratios, although the software allows for limited flexibility. Preservation and reinstallation strategies, developed in close collaboration with Mul and based on LI-MA’s “artist documentation package,” are in place to guide future presentations.

Random Access Memories (2009–Present), Data Architecture (2003), & The Order of Things (2005)

Brief Description of the Works

Random Access Memories is a live-generated installation that explores the interplay between individual and collective memory. It presents a 5x5 grid of projected square images selected in real-time from a database of over 4,300 personal photographs taken by Mul. The selection process uses image analysis software, comparing images across 18 visual parameters to generate visually associative groupings that evolve constantly.

The work shares its software foundation with two earlier installations: Data Architecture (2003), a site-specific projection of slowly morphing images resembling stained glass, and The Order of Things (2005), which used images of UNESCO heritage sites in India projected onto the ceiling of the Dutch Embassy in New Delhi. While all three works are included in the case study, Random Access Memories receives special focus due to its ongoing, iterative development, use in multiple venues, and inclusion in Mul’s 2016-2017 retrospective at Stedelijk Museum Schiedam.

Preservation and Challenges

What sets Random Access Memories apart is its dynamic and evolving nature. Mul continues to add photographs to the image database, emphasising the personal and temporal aspect of memory. According to Mul, only he can determine which new images are added and how they are processed within the artwork. He considers that the piece will be “finished” at the point when he is no longer able to contribute to it.

An interface has been developed to manage the image database and configure image selection parameters. A manual for this interface, along with technical diagrams, source code, and a video registration, form a complete documentation package for future reinstallations.

From a preservation perspective, the work is relatively robust. It runs on Linux, making it adaptable to a wide range of hardware. Emulation remains an option if needed. To safeguard the artwork, full system backups, including the software, source code, and image database, are stored in LI-MA’s digital art repository, ensuring long-term access and stability.

Header image: Geert Mul, Shan Shui (2013)