Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue: Discovering the Art of Helen and Newton Harrison

FAIN: PW-51566-14

Stanford University (Stanford, CA 94305-2004)
Michael A. Keller (Project Director: July 2013 to August 2016)

Processing papers and digital files, reformatting audio and video recordings, creating finding aids for, and providing digital access to a collection documenting the work of eco-art movement artists Helen and Newton Harrison, encompassing 230 linear feet of mixed materials and 1.5 million digital files.

Researchers and practitioners alike have found it necessary to take account of the dissolution of disciplinary boundaries in their work as they articulate the complex problems of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Harrisons have played leading roles in both inciting this methodological change and demonstrating where this kind of work can lead. The collection contains a wide variety of formats of materials and is coupled with their ground breaking integration of both analog and born-digital materials. A processing and preservation project is therefore an efficient option informed by key intellectual intersections. The grant project will take 1.5 years to complete. At the end of the project, we will have processed 230 linear feet of mixed materials, reformatted all the audio and video elements, captured and processed born-digital material (0.5 terabytes or 1.5 million files).