Jeffrey Martin

Jeff Martin (he/him) is a time-based media conservator, working in private practice in Chicago. From 2013 through 2023 he was media art conservator for the Kramlich Collection, a major private collection of contemporary art based in San Francisco. He has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and works as an archival film researcher for television and feature documentaries. He is a 2005 graduate of NYU's Moving Image and Archiving Preservation master’s degree program, and was a 2007 Smithsonian research fellow at the Hirshhorn Museum. 

My goal as a time-based media art (TBMA) conservator—and also as an instructor—is to serve the needs of the artist first and foremost. Whatever the situation in which I am working—museum, private collection, artist's studio—I always think of my true client as the artwork I am conserving—and by extension, the artist. I am privileged to work in a medium whose practitioners are still mostly with us, and have the honor of working with them directly to learn about the piece in question, and thus their practice, influences, goals, and themselves. I always strive to translate the artist's vision into tools, documentation, and recommendations that will ensure their vision is maintained for the longest possible time, despite changing technologies, varying exhibition situations, and eventually the time when their voice can no longer be directly heard. The artist comes first and foremost, and it is always a joy to collaborate with them.