XFR Collective Review
Reviewer(s): Allison Elliott and Marisa Iovino
Digital Project: https://xfrcollective.wordpress.com/
Review Began: 17th February 2022
Review Concluded: 4th May 2022
Digital Archives Collection: https://archive.org/details/xfrcollective&tab=collection
Data and Sources
- Film
- Blog posts
- Audio
- Interviews
Processing
- Playback deck: this plays the tapes back
- Monitors and scopes: harnessed to view and parse the material from the deck
- Time-base corrector: used to ensure the lines of the video are aligned
- Analog-to-digital converter: transforms the analog signal to digital
- The frames: material is named, saved as a 10 bit uncompressed Quicktime video, and uploaded to the Internet Archive
- CRT Monitor, Audio Monitor, Waveform Monitor, Vectorscope, RF Monitor, Cables (BNC, S-Video, RCA, XLR, FireWire, SDI) Terminators, Time Base Corrector, Analog-Digital Converter, Sync Generator, Audio Mixer
Presentation
The website’s homepage explains the collective’s agenda, techniques, and objectives. It also displays thumbnails of recent projects. The secondary pages offer information such as events, resources, contact information, how to get involved, and where to donate. The videos are saved on the Internet Archive
Digital Tools Used to Build It
- Wappalyzer analysis of https://xfrcollective.wordpress.com/: WordPress, PHP, MySQL, Nginx, section, Jquery, Github,
- Internet Archives
Languages
English and Spanish
Review
The XFR Collective grew out of a 2013 New Museum exhibit, XFR STN, which digitized audiovisual works in obsolete formats. In 2014, the XFR Collective was founded by Andrea Callard, Rebecca Fraimow, and Kristin MacDonough to continue this project of preserving obscure media. They state their purpose as:
XFR Collective partners with artists, activists, and community organizations to lower the barriers to preserving at-risk audiovisual media – especially unseen, unheard, or marginalized works – through digitization, screenings, educational workshops, and pop-up events. Operating through a non-hierarchical model, we work to create an inclusive environment in which to explore practical methods for media preservation, archiving, and access.
XFR is volunteer-run and continues to digitize analog video materials. In 2014, the collective began partnering with the Internet Archive, transferring videos to the website once processed. This affiliation enables the general public to access the materials and grants filmmakers the security of the Internet Archive. Today, the collective defines itself as a team of digital preservers and educators, offering educational workshops and community events.
The XFR Collective’s website facilitates knowledge into their work. The collective’s agenda, techniques, and mission statement are presented on the homepage. While the videos are saved on the Internet Archive, this page features six thumbnails of recent projects. This combination enables clear insight into the project. From there, the user can access secondary pages to view details such as events, resources, contact information, FAQ, where to donate, and how to get involved. The importance of autonomy persists through the resources page, which explains details for basic video preservation. Additionally, they refer to other archiving organizations. We consider this information significant as it sustains XFR’s emphasis on accessibility and community archives.
One critical component of the collective is that they remain volunteer-run. We believe that this demographic enables media preservation that formal institutions may discard. Currently, the Internet Archive has over 295 entries. We watched some and determined that some videos document mundane experiences, but we note this with great appreciation. The services provided by the XFR Collective are rare, paramount, and enable the conservation of marginalized histories. For example, “Occupied,” created by Joan Jubela in 1983, is a continuous loop of bathroom experiences. Several of the individuals recorded appear to be queer or transgender. We highlight Joan’s work because the bathroom debates remain prevalent in anti-transgender legislation. By preserving this video, XFR documents that transgender individuals have existed forever. We hope that these sorts of conservation eventually lead to liberation for transgender people and other marginalized communities, whose histories are typically erased.
The XFR collective helped Visual Aids, an arts organization committed to raising awareness around HIV/AIDS, digitize and preserve some of their materials. These materials include performances, public messaging, video art, documentaries, interviews, World AIDS footage, and news coverage. The documentation and preservation of activism are incredibly important to our cultural memory and resilience. Further, especially with small non-profits such as Visual Aids that may not have the resources to digitize all their materials independently. As the latter half of the twentieth century was filled with radical activism fueled by community, the preservation to inspire future generations is much needed, and here, XFR Collective met that need.
Reflecting on its mission statement, we believe that the organization has been successful in reaching its goals. As the project exists to provide services to those outside institutions, like the academy, we believe they are successful in reaching their targeted audience. The XFR is accessible, engaging, and effective. Their work preserves intimate and nonhegemonic narratives, unlike the traditional Archive.