Vienna Secession

Prior to the establishment of the internet access to databases was dependent on CD-ROM and DVD where complex data acquisition, evaluation, and presentation was concerned. Needless to say, that today we completely realise this by means of the latest internet technology.

However, our contract with the Vienna Secession concerning a database for the complete acquisition, evaluation and presentation of the archive and the membership data as well as all the activities of this renowned institution both as an association of artists and an exhibition hall of international scope still fell within the pre-internet era.

Phase 1
1997-1999
Conception, design and programming of a relational database, which contains all exhibition activities, the archives and data of all members  since the establishment of the Vienna Secession in the year 1897. A complex search engine permits detailed data evaluation.
Systematic digital acquisition of the archives (member data, exhibtion data, works of art, autographs), establishment of a digital photo archive of works of art and posters, catalogues and issues of Ver-Sacrum.

Phase 2
1999-2000
Conception, design and programming of an interactive hybrid CD-ROM  with a runtime version of the database, which allows for evaluation of the data according to diverse criteria (index of names, timeline, global search, queries in all parts of the database)

Art Without Borders

Array
  1. Phase 1
    1997-1999 Conception, design and programming of a relational database, which contains all exhibition activities, the archives and data of all members  since the establishment of the Vienna Secession in the year 1897. A complex search engine permits detailed data evaluation.
    Systematic digital acquisition of the archives (member data, exhibtion data, works of art, autographs),
    establishment of a digital photo archive of works of art and posters, catalogues and issues of Ver-Sacrum.
  2. Phase 2
    1999-2000 Conception, design and programming of an interactive hybrid CD-ROM  with a runtime version of the database, which allows for evaluation of the data according to diverse criteria (index of names, timeline, global search, queries in all parts of the database).

Facts and 2,400 illustrations at 8,921 artists (including 846 members), 1,352 exhibitions and events, 885 catalogues, 450 posters, 129 VerSacrum magazines, 12,749 documents (listed) and 1,762 archived works.

Publisher: Wiener Secession
Concept, design, programming, coordination, production: GRAF+ZYX
Editorial staff: Bärbel Holaus, Margarethe Szeless, Josef Wöss
Photography: archives: GRAF+ZYX, exhibitions: Margherita Spiluttini
Texts: Eleonora Louis, Martin Prinzhorn
Translations: David P. Gogarty, Michael Huey
Co-workers: Elisabeth Amon, Florian Bernd, Nora Fischer, Hermia Hillebrandt, Julia Kopetzky, Harald Krämer, Paul Rachler, Kathrin Rhomberg
Proofreading CD-ROM: Georg Vasold, Michaela Papernigg, Martina Krauss, Andrea Pospichal
Print and duplication: Sony DADC
Acknowledgments: Architektur Zentrum Wien, Otto Kapfinger, Margherita Spiluttini

<details, screenshots, name search>

Secession Infotext:
The Secession has published a CD-Rom, which conveys the history of the artists' association in a contemporary medium for the first time. With this, the Secession thus presents its in-house archive, which has undergone scholarly preparation in recent years with support from the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture and from GlaxoSmithKline Pharma AG.
In addition to the historical documents and works from the archive, the CD-Rom, conceived by Graf+ZYX, has a purposely contemporary focus. Today's members are thus represented with their current projects and texts about their work, and exhibitions from the last twenty years are documented extensively and with many illustrations.
The CD-Rom is based on a database containing the stores of the Secession archive. This includes art works, particularly paintings and graphics of the twentieth century, posters, editions of Ver Sacrum, exhibition catalogues since the inception of the association, and all the collected correspondence from 1898 to 1945. There is also a documentation of all past and present members of the Secession, including biographies and the dates of membership for over 800 artists. With texts about the historical development of the Secession and illustrated with about 2000 illustrations, the CD-Rom is intended for a wide audience ranging from interested exhibition visitors to scholars.
There are several possibilities available to the CD-Rom users for exploring the networked structure of the database. One option is to click one's way through the exhibition history of the Secession along illustrated paths and experience the adaptability of the main room in conjunction with the varying exhibition designs and installations. It is also possible to view all the cover pages of the editions of Ver Sacrum that are in the archive, as well as a selection of catalogue covers and Secession posters.
On the other hand, it is also possible to conduct a specific search for an exhibition or one of the over 10000 artists, who have been shown at the Secession since its beginning. In a specific search of this kind, the networked database structure of the CD-Rom reveals its full potential, because all the data relevant to the Secession can be called up with a query. The results of a search for an artist thus also display the artist's biography, a picture of the artist's work, a list of all the works by this artist in the archive, and a list of all the Secession exhibitions, in which the artist participated. Additionally, all the letters written by this artist in the correspondence archive from 1898 to 1945 are also listed, which means that new and important sources on the early period of the Secession are now available for scholarly research.
The clear layout in gray and white is designed to be as user-friendly as possible. The displays of lists are as well organized and the numerous color pictures are presented effectively. The CD-Rom thus conjoins the scholarly database and the illustrated history of the exhibition house into a complex picture of the Secession in the past and in the present.