Media Arts
From cinema and television to surveillance and the Internet, media plays a major role in everyday life. Our Media Arts collection reflects how artists have used various technologies and processes in their work since the 1960s. The collection encompasses a diverse range of time-based media artworks, including video, film, slide, sound, computer-based, and online projects as well as live performances.
Ranging from immersive installations to participation-based pieces, the works in the Media Arts collection become activated when exhibited. We not only commission new work for our dedicated galleries, but also explore how to create engaging experiences in public spaces throughout the museum. We also organize select film and video programs in the Phyllis Wattis Theater and online.
The Department of Media Arts, established in 1987, was among the first of its kind in the United States. Reflecting the Bay Area’s tradition of technological innovation and forward thinking, SFMOMA is a leader in the presentation, collection, and preservation of time-based media works.
Candice Breitz, Working Class Hero (A Portrait of John Lennon) (detail), 2006; Collection SFMOMA, Purchase through a gift of Pam Kramlich, Elaine McKeon, the K. Hart Smith Trust, and the Accessions Committee Fund
Collection Highlights
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Cauleen SmithSojourner
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Theaster GatesDo you hear me calling? Mama Mamama or What Is Black Power?
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Suzanne LacyThe Circle and the Square
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Li RanSame Old Crowd
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Arthur JafaLove Is The Message, The Message Is Death
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John AkomfrahVertigo Sea
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Glenn LigonLive
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Ragnar KjartanssonThe Visitors
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Rafael Lozano-HemmerLast Breath
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Jananne Al-AniShadow Sites II
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Jim CampbellExploded Views
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Bill FontanaSonic Shadows
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Apichatpong WeerasethakulPhantoms of Nabua
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Tacita DeanDay for Night
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Sylvie BlocherLiving Pictures / Men in Gold
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Lynn Hershman LeesonRoom #8
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Bruce ConnerTHREE SCREEN RAY
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Dora GarcíaInstant Narrative
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Candice BreitzWorking Class Hero (A Portrait of John Lennon)
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Anthony McCallYou and I, Horizontal
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Sharon HayesSymbionese Liberation Army (SLA) Screeds #13, 16, 20 & 29
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Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July; Yuri Ono, web designerLearning to Love You More
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Christian MarclayVideo Quartet
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Eija-Liisa AhtilaLahja (The Present)
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Pierre HuygheThe Third Memory
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Steve McQueenDrumroll
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Tatsuo MiyajimaCounter Line
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Rineke DijkstraThe Buzz Club, Liverpool, UK/Mystery World, Zaandam, NL
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Stan DouglasHors-Champs
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Gary HillSuspension of Disbelief (for Marine)
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Matthew BarneyREPRESSIA
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Bill ViolaPassage
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Doug HallThe Terrible Uncertainty of the Thing Described
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Steina VasulkaThe West
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Dara BirnbaumPM Magazine
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Vito AcconciCommand Performance
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Dan GrahamOpposing Mirrors and Video Monitors on Time Delay
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Katharina SieverdingTransformer
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Howard FriedInside the Harlequin: Approach-Avoidance III and II
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Julia ScherPredictive Engineering3
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Paul KosThe Sound of Ice Melting
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Douglas GordonPretty much every film and video work from about 1992 until now. To be seen on monitors, some with headphones, others run silently and all simultaneously.
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Hans HaackeNews
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Nam June PaikTV Crown
Online Artworks
SFMOMA launched its first website in 1995. Media Arts soon after began commissioning web-based projects, and today hosts key online artworks from the collection to explore here.
With the support of Artist Initiative team members, Julia Scher developed a new iteration of her artwork Predictive Engineering 3 (1993–present).


Predictive Engineering3



Predictive Engineering2