The Pat Meyer FoundationA Digital Archives Database Prototype

LIS-661: Art Documentation, Final Project: Artist Foundation

Alex DiFiglia, Drew Facklam, Cormac Fitzgerald, Richard Goldstein, Rachel Richardson, and Paige Williams

Salvador Dali's Lobster Telephone, 1938

Who is Pat Meyer?

● Childhood and life in NYC● Influences and the

Neo-Dadaist Movement● Legacy

DeFeo, 1960, The Whitney Museum of American Art

Louise Nevelson, Sky Cathedral, 1982. Painted wood. From the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Camera

Grandma’s Chair

Suitcase Pieces

Metal Car Parts

Wood included: Pine, Mahogany, Maple and Oak

Current Status and Future Needs

Periodical Wall in the reading room at Letterform Archive

Database Project Requirements

● Levels of Description● Standardized Vocabularies● Digital Images● Archival and Preservation

Best Practices● Exportable Metadata

Image from Lynda.com slideshow

Descriptive metadata

Document

Identify

Describe

● 100 sculptures● 203 drawings● 167 linear feet of documents● 17 sketchbooks

● Object profile● Photo documentation● Searchable by tombstone data as well as linked

elements/objects● Build/implement unique object ID

● Cataloging Cultural Objects (CCO)● Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN)● Getty Union List of Artist Names (ULAN)● Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)

Collection size

Digital inventory at item level for a robust database

Project Overview

Inventory● Integrate Meyer’s legacy

inventories● Unique object ID format

○ Year.ItemType.Series○ I.e. 1961.dwg.001

● Institution identifiers○ First four letters○ I.e. Guggenheim: Gugg

Conservation● Housed in Brooklyn loft studio● Original artist housing● Supplementary housing for

conservation to be done alongside inventory

Photo Documentation

● Photography of all works● Ingested into database● Object profile as image surrogate● Document condition and/or any

damage

Methodology of Work

Concept Map

Database design and implementation

Identification

Description

Relations

Collection Hierarchy

http://pratt-institute.xdams.org/

Example Record—Crosswalk

Materials NameTechniqueEvent

Dimension DisplayTypeUnitValue

Projected Staff

Image from fotolio.com

Archivist

IT manager

Art Handlers

Registrar

Interns

Photographer

Projected Operational Supplies

Desktop Computers Laptop Computers

Cloud Storage Server & Rackspace storage

Digital Camera

Crating, protective packing, powertoolsImages from freevector.com

Timeline for Completion

Any questions?

Joe Pogan’s Fish on Bait, 2009