Archive of Projects 1994–2026 compiles the materials resulting from the research activities of the Observatory of Unidentified Video, spanning from its founding in 1994 to the present year, 2026. Established in 2020 as a consolidation of the research initiative launched in 1994, this archive functions as a repository designed to document, organize, and sustain the research, activities, and prototypes generated through an interdisciplinary focus on sociocultural, aesthetic, and technological phenomena of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Its creation responds to the need to ensure the continuity, accessibility, and preservation of a heterogeneous corpus—comprising documentation and conceptual constructs—produced during a historical period marked by paradigmatic transformations in the production, circulation, and consumption of knowledge.
The Archive of Projects spans more than three decisive decades (1994–2026), tracing a temporal arc from the final stages of analog culture to the consolidation of digitally hyperconnected environments, including the emergence of decentralized networks and the rise of generative imagery. This periodization not only reflects technological change but also interrogates shifts in creative practices, the epistemology of images, and device-mediated forms of socialization.
Structurally, the repository is organized into four complementary and interconnected instances:
Exploration
Projects and events driven by a strong commitment to research within contemporary critical and historical contexts. This instance includes documentation of multiple projects encompassing a wide range of conceptual themes and perspectives.
Interpretation
Series of inquiries, reformulations, lectures, and reconfigurations based on the archive’s conceptual core and preserved materials. It may also incorporate external sources and thematically related fields. Its primary aim is the interpretation and critical comparison of media, as well as the projection of research toward future contexts and possibilities.
Dissemination
Online and offline diffusion and sharing of research outcomes. Public events are dedicated to presenting the thematic initiatives of the Observatory and related collaborative projects.
Prototype
Highly experimental laboratory projects, primarily intended for online distribution or for presentation in specific offline venues and events. This instance includes permanent works in progress, unfinished research, speculative or borderline materials, and anonymous content.
In addition, the repository comprises two foundational categories:
Context 1994–2020
This category encompasses the conceptual processes developed from the founding of the Observatory of Unidentified Video through the death of Toni Serra, co-founder of the project, and up to the pandemic year. It includes comprehensive documentation of research projects conducted in close collaboration with the CCCB – Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona and the MACBA – Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona.
Toni Serra *) Abu Ali
A compilation of the complete videographic body of work by Toni Serra, spanning from the late 1980s until his death in 2019, as well as a substantial selection of his writings.
Unfiltered access to the entirety of the Archive of Projects 1994–2026.
