Commission votes to deaccession Susan Narduli’s new-media piece “Conversation”
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Summary
The commission voted to deaccession Conversation by Susan Narduli, citing technical instability, rising maintenance demands and a 10-year lifecycle written into the original contract; staff said the artist was notified and cooperative and that monitors will remain in the lobby.
PALO ALTO — The Palo Alto Public Art Commission voted Jan. 15 to deaccession the new-media artwork Conversation by Susan Narduli, concluding that the piece had become increasingly unstable and that maintenance demands had grown untenable.
Staff told commissioners the work was selected from a 107-applicant open call, installed in 2016 after council approval and commissioned for slightly more than $174,000. As platforms and feeds changed, staff said, the artwork required repeated technical interventions and increasingly frequent programmer time. Staff said the original contract anticipated finite stewardship; the commission set a 10-year term in the contract and initiated a deaccession evaluation process in September.
Staff described steps taken before the vote: public notice in the deaccession evaluation, notification of the artist and work with the artist’s team. A staff presenter said the artist has been cooperative. Staff also said the city retains the physical monitors and would disconnect the artist’s computers; the artist would be consulted about archival copies, duplicate files or memory devices.
Commissioners asked for details about records and archives; staff said a clone of the work exists on the collection website and that the interactive portion had diminished as the system went offline in later years. Commissioners also asked whether the city budgets for maintenance; staff said council approves a dedicated maintenance budget for the collection but that funds are stretched.
A commissioner moved to deaccession the work; the motion was seconded and the commission conducted a roll-call vote. All present commissioners recorded yes votes and the motion passed. Staff said it will work with the artist on disposition of files and any materials the artist wishes to reclaim.
The action formalizes the removal of the artwork from the city’s active collection; staff said it will preserve available records and determine custody of any archival copies.