The Video Library at GAM offers the public a completely updated service. Since October 27, 2006 an entirely renovated space hosts visitors and offers them the opportunity to individually or collectively consult the works. The collection of Artist Videos and the Archive of Art Documentaries have been digitalized and gathered into a system that allows users to access the entire database directly from workstations located in the rooms of the Video Library.
Due to its importance and number of works, the collection of Artist Videos represents a unique example in Italy of a sufficiently complete collection of the main currents in video art and artistic cinema from the 1960s to today. The Archive of Art Documentaries holds some of the most important examples in Italy of auteur documents dedicated to artists and movements of international art history. But the collection is constantly growing. It is as all-inclusive as possible. The acquisition standards strive for a total archive, which can guarantee future generations as many images as possible of artists at work in their studios— an archive that holds traces of their practice, their vision, and their words.
Each workstation, designed for two users, is made up of a two-screen LCD terminal: the archive can be consulted on the first, while on the second, the selected video can be viewed full screen. The database, which can be accessed on the first monitor, was created according to today’s technological standards and complies with the latest protocols in museum archiving: video searches can be performed very easily, according to key words or by following GAM’s suggestions. The search results can be arranged according to author, year, or country.
From the list of titles that emerges from the search, users can directly decide to start a video or may choose to access from each single title additional information on the work and the artist. The consultation system, after the user inserts his personal info, will memorize past searches so that each single user, with a password, can find traces of previous searches. (The database offers suggestions that join works and in-depth info for exploring some aspects of the history of artist videos).
