Registro/documento: Fotografia na obra de arte contemporânea

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present discussion regarding records in contemporary art, especially photography. Are these records musealized as documents or works of art? While having a documentary function, they can often be considered an extension of the registered artwork, as well as become autonomous to some extent, be considered other artwork or the artwork itself. This often depends on their assigned function or even on the artist’s intention. This is a qualitative research based on an exploratory study about which we present some considerations outlined in the proposed literature. Based on the studies, we observe that the photographs, one of the most used means of recording in contemporary art, have the dual function of record/document and work of art. Thus, there may be doubts at the time of the guard.