From podcasts to video blogs, there is no question that digital media has revolutionized how we view art and performance. Today it is relatively cheap and easy to capture digital media of a performance or cultural event. But while cultural institutions like dance companies and visual artists are eagerly picking up technology to create, preserve and distribute their work, they are largely experimenting without a set of standards or technical best practices.

BAVC is the nation’s largest non-profit preservation organization, and we are leading the field in developing preservation standards for the future, and providing hands-on expertise to practitioners as they implement these new standards. In 2003, we produced PLAYBACK, an interactive DVD that invites users to view the technical practices of video preservation and to experience the complex decision-making process engaged in by artists, conservators and video engineers as they reconstruct video artwork.

PRESERVATION SERVICES:
  • Client Consultation
  • Cleaning and Transfer from: 1/2" Open Reel, 3/4" Tapes, VHS Tapes
  • Transfer to: Digital Betacam, DVCam, Betacam SP, 3/4", SVHS/VHS, DVD
  • Logged documentation of signal imperfection
  • Image/Audio Correction Additional Services: Restoration, Title Slates
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Still from a performance by the legendary Rock Steady Crew at The Kitchen in NY . . . preserved at BAVC.

RATES:

BAVC Preservation rates are low because they are subsidized with support from the National Endowment from the Arts, individual donors and others. Please contact Preservation for consultation and pricing. We'll provide you with a preservation scheme that meets your archival needs and budget.


 
 

  • Preserved at BAVC

    The Kitchen, NYC
    Love Diamond by Miranda July


    BAVC has been preserving parts of The Kitchen’s media archives, including both video and audio, for several years. BAVC Preservation Technicians often express a fondness for The Kitchen's archive and count among their favorite "jobs" works by Laurie Anderson, The Talking Heads, Fab Five Freddy and the Rock Steady Crew, and many others.

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  • Preserved at BAVC

    The Fales Library at NYU

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    Brent Phillips is a Media Specialist and Processing Archivist at Fales Library and Special Collections at the Elmer Bobst Library at New York University. He is one of a very few media specialists working with a special collection that is not just devoted to media.  Brent contracted with BAVC to help preserve video performances by artists such as Stuart Sherman and Jaime Davidovich.

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  • Preserved at BAVC

    The Exploratorium, SF
    David Byrne


    BAVC was hired by The Exploratorium here in San Francisco to clean and digitize their video collection. David Byrne is a Scottish-American musician and artist. He is perhaps best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1974 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo projects on record, and worked in a variety of media, including film, photography, opera, and Internet-based projects. This is for BAVC promotional use only.