Open Forum

 View Only

  • 1.  Question about cataloguing

    Posted 08-20-2024 01:19 PM
    I am currently cataloguing works for a friend who has progressive dementia, so I cannot ask them questions about dates or titles of their work. I have 2 works which are unsigned and have no title or date, but are clearly made in this artist's distinctive style and literary sensibility. One artwork is a text piece, which was programmed with a complex machine, so I can date this piece to within a couple of years of its probable creation. The other is more difficult to place.

    Questions:
    For the text piece, do I list it, for example, as c. 2017-2018?
    For both works, how do I list them within the catalogue? Do I just say "unknown" for the date and title? Do I place them on a separate spreadsheet? (Currently, works are listed by year, but can also be found by title.)

    Many thanks,
    Pamela Dunn



  • 2.  RE: Question about cataloguing

    Posted 08-21-2024 07:42 AM
    Hi, Pamela - in my opinion "c." has become distorted by use by those outside museums and academe.  It is short for "circa," latin for around (approximately).  So to use "c.", then give a range is redundant.  In the first case, I would list it as c. 2017.

    For the one more difficult to date, I would simply list it as "n.d." until there is a way (perhaps through research or close examination of materials) to better assign a "c." year.

    Vivian





  • 3.  RE: Question about cataloguing

    Posted 08-22-2024 07:20 AM

    Thanks, Vivian. That is helpful. How much "circa" is covered by that term has always been rather amorphous for me. (A century? A year?)



    ------------------------------
    Pamela Matsuda-Dunn
    Massachusetts
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Question about cataloguing

    Posted 08-22-2024 07:43 AM
    Hi, Pamela - I would say definitely much less than a century, but a year is reasonable.  Obviously, when discussing human-created works, a century would be a fantasy.  Much can be determined by materials used in the piece(s) to bracket the possible dates more narrowly.  All of dating, whether wide or narrow, requires at least some research.  Biographical information, even genealogical data can help with this.  Vivian



    Original Message


Related Content