In theory, all of these principles are quite simple. This protects us from natural disaster, or complete failure of the digital storage device. Secondly, we need to store multiple complete copies of all of this data and metadata in multiple locations.
First and foremost, we can build storage devices that have built in redundancy and safety measures, including the ability to identify problems. Thankfully we can design around this problem.
Unfortunately digital storage is by its very nature fallible – just as there is no archival or permanent analog storage medium (safe for film, when properly cared for) – there is no permanent or archival form of digital storage. The last piece of the puzzle is storage – we need to put all of this information somewhere safe. Consulting artist Phil Sanders at the 2013 New Museum exhibition XFR STN. For instance, are these video files part of the artwork itself, and they meant to be projected in the gallery, or are they videos documenting the exhibition of the work? Without the preservation of this contextual information, the files are useless. Therefore, we need to record data about the data – metadata – about what these files are, what they are supposed to look like, and what purpose they serve within the larger context of the artwork. Preserving these bits and bytes however is just the first step – just because we have perfectly stored a file, doesn’t mean that in the future it will be understandable. This is how we can prove and validate the authenticity of digital art. No matter what storage medium these files are copied to, we must be able to prove that the same file, bit for bit, every zero and every one has been accounted for. Preserving these zeroes and ones perfectly (and being able to prove and demonstrate that one has done so) is paramount when talking about a work of art. These files contain the data: zeroes and ones that make up bits and bytes.
When you “preserve” a digital artwork, what are you actually preserving?įirst and foremost, you are preserving the digital files (videos, sound files, still images, executable software) that make up the artwork and that are necessary to exhibit and/or view the artwork. What does it mean to “preserve” something digital?. Museums, have experts (myself included) dedicated to preservation. To combat that, an entire profession has evolved, devoted solely to digital preservation. However, digital files can also fall apart – become corrupted, obsolete, lost, deleted. It is a well established fact that there are no analog media carriers that will last forever – by digitizing analog media, we can ensure that the contents can be losslessly preserved and migrated into the future. Thankfully there is at least one preventative measure that can be employed: digitization. While all works of art can fall apart eventually if not cared for, even a sculpture made out of concrete, the materials of the 20th and 21st centuries do so at an alarming rate, and are at great risk of disappearing long before institutions deem it worthy of collecting and preserving (if ever). We suddenly have an entire generation of artistic creation – cultural heritage and artifacts – that are at risk of simply disappearing. While fifty years is young for an artistic medium, during that time, we have seen technologies come and go making artworks created with these tools and formats oftentimes inaccessible, obsolete and impossible to recover all with drastic stakes. Computer Music pioneer, Laurie Spiegel, in her studio. Photo credit: Enrico Ferorelli The year I am writing this, 2016, marks the 50th anniversary of Experiments in Art and Technology (EAT), a Robert Rauschenberg and Billy Kluver founded organization established to develop collaborations between artists and engineers. Artists created works with these tools as soon as they could get their hands on them – be it by sneaking into a video post-production house after hours, or by private corporations sharing the wealth through artists residencies (for instance, Bell Labs). The 20th century in particular has witnessed the greatest explosion of new materials for artistic experimentation.Ĭelluloid, analog video, early mainframe computers, networks, robotics, the personal computer, the world wide web – you name it. Image: View from the Window at Le Gras, 1826 or 1827, the earliest surviving camera photograph.Īrtists have always reached for the tools, materials, and technologies of their time.
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