Curatorial Intern
Background
Media Burn Archive is the exclusive repository for a history of video, focusing on documentary, on the political, and on the experimental, with collections ranging from early tapes made on the first widely available video cameras to 21st century digital work.
Preserving this history is a constant battle, as the technology required to read the vast majority of video formats is obsolete and unavailable, and the physical materials—the tapes themselves—are rapidly decaying. Further, because independent video producers have never had a reliable means of distributing or broadcasting their work, several generations’ worth of extraordinary work is in danger of being lost. Media Burn, through its larger collection and through its Guerrilla Television project, seeks to preserve and present this overlooked history.
Curatorial Intern Overview
Media Burn Archive is a repository for the history of videotape, focusing on documentary, political, and experimental content, with collections ranging from 1960s tapes made on the first widely available video cameras to 21st century digital work. Preserving this history is a constant battle, as the technology required to read the vast majority of video formats is obsolete and unavailable, and the physical materials—the tapes themselves—are rapidly decaying. Further, because independent video producers have never had a reliable means of distributing or broadcasting their work, several generations’ worth of extraordinary work is in danger of being lost. Through this internship, the Arts Intern will help us preserve and present this overlooked history.
Responsibilities
- Focus on researching, documenting, and presenting a specific collection of videotapes (to be determined based on the intern’s interests).
- Conduct research to create informational web pages on specific productions and video makers, and research the existence and extent of other early video collections in archives around the country.
- Log and summarize the contents of videos and will provide credits and details for public databases like Wikipedia, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), and Letterboxd.
- Write blog posts presenting their research.
In addition to viewing the original videos, this research will be done through a variety of methods: consulting publicity materials and contemporary press coverage, reviewing scholarly journal articles and books, and interviewing creators and scholars.
The internship will conclude with a virtual screening/discussion of materials from the collection processed by the intern. The intern will facilitate the production of the event, from curation of the program to working with filmmakers and moderators to creating marketing materials. The intern will work closely with their supervisor to plan and prepare that event.
Requirements, Skills, and Qualifications
- Strong research and writing skills, a high degree of organization and attention to detail
- Ability to synthesize large amounts of information in compelling and easy-to-understand ways
- Creative thinker with the energy and curiosity to find information on works that were largely overlooked by the mainstream press at the time they were produced
- Interest in the history of art and media; eager to watch and learn.
Compensation
$20.00 per hour
INTERNS WILL WORK 28 HOURS PER WEEK AND ATTEND A MANDATORY OFFSITE PROGRAM DAY ONE DAY PER WEEK WITH THEIR COHORT.
Internship Period: June 4 – August 7
Total Weeks: 9 weeks
Work Hours per Week: 28
Total Hours: 252
Workdays: onsite, 4 days per week, 9AM–5PM
PROGRAM DAY:
On Fridays, interns will attend an offsite program day with their cohort.
These hours are separate from the internship hours.
How to Apply:
This internship is through the Studio Institute Arts Intern program.
You must first apply to Arts Intern to be eligible for this internship. Once your application has been approved, we will provide you with the next steps to apply for the Curatorial Intern position at Media Burn Archive.
Submit Your Application Here: