Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Every Shot, Every Episode (2001)
Custom digital video playback installation with 277 Video Compact Discs
Between August 2019 and September 2020, I worked on a contract basis to perform treatment on the physical and digital components of Every Shot, Every Episode at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in preparation for its exhibition in Pictures, Revisited in 2020-21. The 277 original Video CDs (VCDs) were backed up to ISO disk images and the video content on each was migrated for exhibition and internal viewing copies. The obscure VCD format limited software options for creating the ISO disk images, which required extensive testing before identifying a workflow that produced working ISO files. The video files were migrated from MPEG-1/.DAT to H-264/.mp4 using FFMPEG and viewed for quality control. The McCoys had produced the original video content using a software-automated database approach, which did not control inconsistencies in frame rate and other errors such as video and audio dropouts. After consultation with the artists, 27 videos were reconstructed using the original source clips and edit decision lists that were part of the artwork’s archive at The Met.
Interventive treatment was performed on the custom suitcase display component in order to use a digital media player rather than the original VCD player. Curatorial and conservation staff agreed that the VCDs can no longer be used as the exhibition playback media due to being artist masters, and because the VCD player no longer functions reliably. Further, the artwork is installed with a Plexiglas bonnet to protect the display and shelves of disc cases, so the interactive aspect of playing videos is no longer available. Video and audio cables from a digital media player were coupled to the original display cabling through a small, hidden hole in the back panel of the suitcase, which the artists suggested in order to avoid the addition of visible cabling to the artwork. The suitcase display components needed to be largely disassembled to carry out this work, and cleaning and reinforcement or replacement of aging interior elements such as insulating electrical tape and thread was also done.
A virtual public talk was given on November 9, 2020 to highlight this artwork and its treatment process, which was attended by over 160 people worldwide. Every Shot, Every Episode was on view at The Met in Pictures, Revisited from October 2020 to May 2021.
Before Treatment (recto)
Before Treatment (verso)
Disk imaging with Windows 7 and MagicISO software
File contents of Video CD
Workflow demonstration with Met Photograph Conservation staff Jonathan Farbowitz, Caroline Gil, and Nora Kennedy
Testing derivative exhibition video files on the original suitcase display
During Treatment (Recto). The artists used Velcro to attach equipment, and black thread to reinforce the speakers and keep cables in place.
During treatment: Cutting away the suitcase's fabric lining before drilling
During treatment: Disassembly and cleaning
During treatment: Drilling the suitcase
After Treatment (Recto)
After Treatment (Verso)
"Every Shot, Every Episode" installed in "Pictures, Revisited" at the Met, 2020-21
Nov. 9, 2020 virtual project presentation, "Every Disc, Every Bit of Data: Conservation of Jennifer and Kevin McCoy's 'Every Shot, Every Episode'" with Met Time-Based Media Conservator Jonathan Farbowitz