Preserving the ‘Goldin’ Age: Preparations of 35mm Slides for Exhibition

  This project outlines a guide to preparing 35mm slides for exhibitions in cultural institutions with the case study focusing on Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. It highlights the development of The Ballad, helping to understand the artist’s intent for the artwork, and places The Ballad within the lesser-explored canon of the history of projected photography. Using this research, the thesis lays out a detailed plan describing the steps taken to document the slides and to ensure that there is a complete record of what the artwork should look like at a proposed exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. This plan can then be applied to other slide-based artworks that are to be exhibited.