Media Art
Annotated Bibliography - Preservation of Media Art
Almeida, N. (2012). Dismantling the monolith: post-media art and the culture of instability. Art Documentation: Bulletin of the Art Libraries Society of North America, 31(1), 2-11.
This article focuses on how digital curators are moving their focus away from the medium of digital media and towards a focus on the user. The article presents a clear and focused introduction that sets up the rest of the paper well. Almeida provides good definitions for such complex terms as new media, post-media, and offers numerous examples of these terms, which are helpful to visualize each term. The article also highlights well the challenges of preserving digital media art and how curators are attempting to adapt to these challenges. It also makes a good point in that technology will never stop changing and curators will have to respond to this.
Balsom, E. (2013). Original Copies: How Film and Video Became Art Objects. Cinema Journal 53(1), 97-118. University of Texas Press.
In this article, author Erika Balsom explores the sale of film and video as art objects with a focus on the development of the limited-edition model throughout the twentieth century. This article addresses the origins and practice of escalating the price of the art object and how this practice incites consumer desire through the artificial cultivation of rarity. It also examines the criticisms and opposition to this practice and the trends in the modes of distribution and exhibitions of moving images.
Becker, C., Kolar, G., Kung, J., & Rauber, A. (2007). Preserving Interactive Multimedia Art: A Case Study in Preservation Planning. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 4822, 257-266.
This article discusses challenges of memory institutions that have homogeneous collections of digital materials versus institutions that collect digitally born art which tend to be heterogeneous and therefore considerably more problematic. The paper focuses on a collection of interactive art held by Ars Electronica, and the specific challenges interactive works pose, such as accessibility and ephemerality. The importance and differences in migration and emulation is stressed, as well as a heavy coverage of implementing the preservation planning approach of PLANETS which consists of defining requirements (file, record, and process characteristics, as well as costs), evaluating alternatives, and considering results. One of the most important points made in this article that others breeze over is that media artists often object to the preservation of their works, for they believe the value comes from the instantaneous situation and that the fact that it is volatile is an important aspect of the work. Artist control over the original object is also discussed at length.
Bird, L. & LaBelle, G. (2010). Re-Animating Greg Lynn's Embryological House: A Case Study in Digital Design Preservation. Leonardo 43(3), 243-249. The MIT Press.
This paper analyzes Greg Lynn’s Embryological House, which was an early work of digital architecture. This object became the subject of a case study in digital preservation by the Daniel Langlois Foundation’s project for the Documentation and Conservation of Media Arts Heritage and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. This research identified components of digital architecture that are essential for long-term preservation. The results of this study reveal a shift in the focus of preservation from the artifacts and a re-evaluation of preservation strategies and principles.
Bishop, M.H. (1999). Evolving Exemplary Pluralism: Steve McQueen's "Deadpan" and Eija-Liisa Ahtila's "Anne, Aki and God"-Two Case Studies for Conserving Technology-Based Installation Art. Art Journal, 58, 1, 179-191.
This article discusses the problems that occur when trying to conserve media and technology based art. It speaks specifically about the problems discussed at TechArchaeology: A Symposium on Installation Art Preservation, and in reference to works of art by the artists Steve McQueen and Eija-Liisa Ahtila, both of which lend their voice on the issue.
Bosley, R. K. (2008). The State of the Art: An Update. American Cinematographer, 89(12), 74-85.
Surveying several motion picture studios, this article examines their preservation practices. Film is still considered the only archival medium for motion pictures. Digital technologies figure prominently in film restorations however. Thus while digital technologies are not utilized for long-term storage of motion pictures, they are employed in restoring analog films.
Bunt, B. (2012). Media Art, Mediality and Art Generally. Leonardo, 45, 1, 94-95.
This article discusses the role of media art in the art world and whether or not it should be separate from contemporary art. The article argues against this and states that media art is a form directly within contemporary art and not a separate entity. Art education should treat media art as a form of contemporary art.
Burns, D. R. (2010). The valuation of emerging media arts in the age of digital reproduction. EVA'10 Proceedings of the 2010 international conference on Electronic Visualisation and the Arts, 259-264. Retrieved from http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/ewic_ev10_s11paper1.pdf
This article details the challenges of assigning value to digital art. The article does a good job of listing the disadvantages that are applied to digital media art in terms of exposure, attention, and funds that are allocated for preservation efforts. Burns also places a interesting emphasis on the constant changes in technology and how that affects digital art preservation and art collecting as a whole. He also strives to place an emphasis on the content of the work rather than the form of technology used to create the work, which contrasts to some of the other articles that I have read on this list.
Cave, D. (2008). "Born Digital"—Raised an Orphan?: Acquiring Digital Media through an Analog Paradigm. The Moving Image, 8(1), 1-13. University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/journals/the_moving_image/v008/8.1.cave.html
The author presents the complicated issue of film preservation and the move from photochemical copying to climate-controlled storage. The obsolescence of film is examined, as well as the importance of having a reliable and intact master. With the majority of film currently being born digital, archives are faced with the task of storing data in light of expensive server space. Despite an archive having the ability to clone film onto Digibeta, many archives still retain holdings of original masters as cultural artifacts. Archives are being forced to maintain a balancing act between digital and analog storage, and the value of film in the digital age is a subject intensely examined.
Clements, J. (2012). Time out: An exploration of the possibilities for archived time-based media as a tool for exploration within a fine art practice-based research enquiry. Journal of Media Practice, 13(3), 239-253. Retrieved from http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aax&AN=85284349&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Clements is an artist that researches audiovisual archives for source material to use in her own art practice, thereby preserving the original material through appropriation and promoting thriving archives, such as the Prelinger archives based in San Francisco. The Prelinger archive stands as an example how a modern audiovisual archive can flourish by sharing free, accessible films on the web for the public to browse and download for their own personal use, and how such an archive can benefit working artists. This article would be of interest to artists that appropriate film, and for archival professionals interested in understanding how publishing their collections on the web can be highly beneficial to the end user.
Coartney, J. S., & Wiesner, S. L. (2009). Performance as digital text: Capturing signals and secret messages in a media-rich experience. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 24(2), 153-160. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqp012
This article analyzes how digitization projects have affected the collection/capture, organization, preservation, and dissemination practices of libraries. This is especially important as film collections and other electronic medias become more available within digital collections. According to the authors, as performing arts incorporate more born-digital elements or use digital tools to create media-rich performance experiences, it is important to consider how these elements must be preserved. This article examines the ARTeFACT project to gain a better understanding of how the process of creating, capturing, and preserving data has evolved with interactive, media-based performances.
Conrad, S. (2012). Analog The Sequel: An Analysis of Current Film Archiving Practice and Hesitance to Embrace Digital Preservation. Archival Issues: Journal of The Midwest Archives Conference, 34(1), 27-43.
This article describes how motion picture arts are still relying mainly on the preservation of analog films rather than digital files. Even pictures created digitally are archived on film. The author states that analog film preservation is better understood; the reason digital preservation is not being trusted is because it is not yet well-understood. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will not consider digitization a respected preservation practice until it is proven to function as good as or better than a traditional film archive. Possibly one of the most surprising things about this article is that it was published so recently.
Conway, P. (2010). Preservation in the Age of Google: Digitization, Digital Preservation, and
Dilemmas. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy , Vol. 80, No. 1, pp. 61-79.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/648463
Conway uses the 1966 flood of Florence, Italy, that destroyed valuable books and documents as a metaphor for the controversial push for the digitization of media as a form of preservation. The author considers the difference between digitization for preservation and digital preservation, in addition to exploring what Google means to digital preservationists. Conway also investigates the toll that preservation and storage takes on the environment, which is a rare perspective.
Cook, S. “Immateriality and its Discontents.” In Paul, C. (2008). New media in the white cube and beyond: Curatorial models for digital art. Berkeley: University of California Press.
This essay focuses on the importance curators must pay to the formats that media artists are using. Despite our best intentions, when thinking about preserving media art the artist is the one who will makes decisions about format, display, media, etc., and they will not always make choices that are considered to be “best practices.” Bringing together production and distribution is the main recommendation, especially since this reflects the “collaborative, variable, and participatory characteristics of new media art.” There is also a heavy historical focus on the 1985 exhibition Les Immatériaux at the Centre Pompidou as a precursor to current art and technology exhibitions.
Dietz, S. (2006). Collecting new media art: just like anything else, only different. Retrieved from http://www.neme.org/524/collecting-new-media-art
This source gives a good introduction to what curators consider new media art. Clear definitions are given to key terms and the reader was not left confused. The author even uses photos as a guide to each term, which helps the reader visualize the term quite well. The reader is also given a guide to different curation methods and steps, which might prove to be useful for the upcoming project. The challenge will be directly applying these steps forward.
Dodds, D. (2010). From analogue to digital: preserving early computer-generated art in the V&A's collections. Art Libraries Journal, 35(3), 10-16.
The Victoria and Albert Museum has one of the earliest and largest collections of computer-generated art in the world. Dodds explains the history of the V & A’s collection and a recent project, Computer Art and Technocultures, which documents, digitizes, and displays the collections. Much of the early computer-generated art only exists on analog media since the artists did not have a means to store the original files. This article is a good history of early media art, particularly from the V & A, but does not broach ethical considerations.
Drucker, J. (1999). Art and the Digital Revolution. Art Journal, 58, 1, 107-110.
This article discusses the role of digital and media art in the art world. It discusses how it differs from other mediums and includes thoughts on how conservation of digital art differs from other forms.
Evens, T. (2011). Challenges of digital preservation for cultural heritage institutions. Journal of librarianship and information science (0961-0006), 43 (3), p. 157. Retrieved from http://lis.sagepub.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/content/43/3/157.full.pdf+html
A case study of the digital preservation of cultural heritage within the European Union and an account of the digitization, metadata indexes, intellectual property rights management and business models associated with the process. Examined is the fallacy that digitization is always the solution, as computers and software become obsolete, and digital files have a short shelf life. A balance between migration and emulation is recommended. Cultural institutions are taking the time to document performing arts through audiovisual means, but are often not preserving the media in the proper environment after digitizing the material, leading to deterioration. The essay points out the shortcomings of many preservation policies and how they can be improved upon by looking at cultural institutions in Flanders, which is well-researched and useful as it considers the different facets of digital preservation by giving concrete examples of practices in motion.
Galloway, A. R. (2011). What is new media? Ten years after the language of new media. Criticism, 53, 3, 377-384.
Galloway revisits Manovich seminal work The Language of New Media almost a decade after its first publication in order to critically examine how the work has held up as technology has changed. He makes the point that the work came out of the first generation of Internet culture. He proposes that Manovich’s stress on the form of digital object (structure, etc.) clearly make him a modernist. However, he also stresses that many of his ideas that seemed groundbreaking at the time (navigation through space, database as medium, spatial and temporal montage) are now taken for granted. He makes the argument for moving images, film, to be the first digital media, and so that “new media” now is really not so new. It’s important to take a step back in this rapidly changing technoculture, and this article provides a good reframing of classic text that is 101 for those involved in media art, and the preservation of.
Garcia, L, & Vilar, P. M. (2010). The challenge of digital art preservation. E-conservation magazine, 14, 43-53. Retrieved from,http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/884/296/
Garcia provides a detailed introduction to the term digital media art within this article. Throughout the article, Garcia gives an example and explanation of each type of digital media art such as digital sculpture and virtual reality. Garcia also provides the main strategies that digital curators might employ to preserve digital media art and lists the benefits and flaws of each method which help the reader understand the challenges of coming up with the “right” way of preserving content. Another focus of the article is that curators should focus on collaborations with the artist and the institution as well in order to help their projects move forward in a positive direction.
Gere, C. New media art and the gallery in the digital age. Tate Papers, (2), Retrieved from http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/new-media-art-and-gallery-digital-age
The purpose of this paper is to examine how digital technology has changed the conceptions of space, time, and culture, and how new media art can be used to reflect these changes. In recent years, new technologies have drastically changed the way in which museums and art galleries operate and affected the way in which art is experienced. For instance, the processes of digitization and circulation of media fundamentally alters the experiences of media as sound, image, voice, and text are all reduced to surface effects. This paper suggest that the role of the museum or gallery might be resistant to the effects of accelerating technical processes since the institutions still produce objects, such as paintings, prints, and sculptures. This paper also examines recent movements, such as art.net, to embrace new technologies for archival and educational purposes.
Gibbs, M. (2005). Archiving Media Art. Art Monthly, (285), 37. Retrieved from http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aax&AN=505118375&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Media art, especially film and video, is deteriorating at a rate of 100 hours per week, and there is a great chance of it being lost to future generations. Gibbs describes the standard process of archiving video, transferring works to Digibeta, keeping the master in a climate-controlled environment, and storing two to three copies on a cloud server. The author also looks at other digital preservation efforts, such as the Internet Archive and the Wayback Machine. This article would be a good start for an individual who was unfamiliar with digital preservation and curious about the nature of archives, but perhaps not valuable to those in the profession.
Głowacz, A., Grega, M. A., Leszczuk, M. A., Papir, Z. A., Romaniak, P., Fornalski, P. A., Lutwin, M. A., ... Šimko, V. (2012). Open Internet gateways to archives of media art. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 59, 3, 897-920.
This article presents case studies for developing systems to preserve and distribute media art. The proposed systems implement the OASIS Archive and GAMA for participating institutions to have a decentralized architecture with linked metadata so that researchers and individuals would be able to access the resources through an online interface. Its significance comes from specific proposals as opposed to presenting a set a problem without providing any recommendations for remedy.
Hanhardt, J. G., & Villasenor, M. C. (1995). Video/media culture of the late twentieth century. College art association, 54(4), 20-25. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/777689
This article examines the trends within the media arts movement and the effects of video installation and single-channel art for museum’s permanent collections. According to the article, private collectors, museums, and other art institutions are becoming increasingly interested in acquiring video installations and video projects for their collections. This move toward multimedia and interactive art raises the issues examining the written history of the video in art as well as its relationship to the other arts. This article explores the trends surrounding video in art and how it relates to collections of traditional and digital art.
Hoogeveen, G., & Monizza, S. (2012). When Visual Art Meets Cinema. Moving Image (15323978), 12(1), 119-128.
Written by two conservators, this article documents the restoration of an early new media artwork, as well as the ethical issues surrounding such processes. Unlike traditional arts, like paintings, new media art when not on display often disintegrates into its material parts. Ethical considerations include whether the technologies are part of the artwork or simply a means to display the concept. The artwork documented is “Projekt I-‘90” by Peter Struycken. Two restoration projects were undertaken; one maintained the analog technology and the other was a digital conversion. Both versions were exhibited simultaneously to mixed reception. This article makes good comparisons between the “purist” preservation approach, utilizing the original technologies, and digital reconstructions involving reformatting the work.
Innocenti, P. (2012). Preventing Digital Casualties: An Interdisciplinary Research for Preserving Digital Art. Leonardo, 45(5), 472-473. The MIT Press. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/journals/leonardo/v045/45.5.innocenti.html
Digital art is represented within art museums at a growing rate, but many issues surround the preservation and access. Innocenti provides a comprehensive list of landmark projects that address these problems, while the article takes a theoretical look at solutions to digital storage and backwards compatibility. Unfortunately, this essay is lacking any concrete suggestions on how institutions may implement a process to manage digital art, and instead suggests that museums should collaborate with information management professionals.
Ippolito, J. (2009). New Criteria for New Media. Leonardo Leonardo, 42(1), 71–75.
This article by Ippolito addresses digital media preservation by considering the varied backgrounds that those concerned with new media come from: art, architecture, technology, etc. The main argument made is that the way the media is created should be close to the same format on which it is retrieved. Though there are advantages to paper, print, and power-power point these are considered “one-way” information flows, and the future is about connecting versus storing knowledge. A case study for ThoughtMesh is made. A good article, though it focuses on scholarly research, one can draw obvious comparisons for how these ideas affect those concerned with media art, and how new media has the potential to change communication through networks.
Ippolito, J. “The Variable Media Questionnaire.” In Depocas, A., Ippolito, J., & Jones, C. (2003). Permanence through change: The variable media approach = L' approche des médias variables. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications.
In this article storage and specific digital preservation strategies for museums and galleries of media art are discussed by the creation of a questionnaire. Since the systems created from the 18th to the 20th centuries are of little value to the art made in the 21st, the Guggenheim has created a variable media task force that addresses questions to artists that help obtain the general objects of how their ideas can best moved forward on formats that are bound to change. Ippolito’s stance can be best summed up thus: “To take the artists’ answers and cement them into an inflexible framework would be like capturing a butterfly alive only to pin it to a wall.”
Jones, C. (2008). Surveying the state of the art (of documentation). 1-4. Retrieved from http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=2126
This particular article takes an in-depth look at different digital media curation projects such as the DOCAM project, the Variable Media Network, and Matters in Media Art. Jones lists how each project does their own curation, what determines if the curation is good or needs more work. The article presents a detailed overview of each program, its background, and how they each are devoted to digital media preservation. Although not necessarily a traditional research paper, this article does present several interesting sources that this group could possibly use for further information on the future project.
Jones, C., & Muller, L. (2008). Between Real and Ideal: Documenting Media Art. Leonardo, 41, 4, 418-419.
This article discusses documenting media art while highlighting both the artist’s intention as well as the reception from the audience. It specifically highlights the artwork of David Rokeby titled “Giver of Names.” Some of the features of this type of documentation are interviews with bot the artists and the audiences as well as comments on the data structure.
Kacunko, S. (2009). M.A.D. Media Art Databases and the Challenges of Taste, Evaluation and Appraisal. Leonardo, 42, 3, 245-250.
This article discusses the benefits that art history, media studies, and computer science would have if they worked together and discussed mutual efforts of recording and preserving data and media arts.
Kim, E. (2012). An artist’s digital preservation tool-kit: dance as a case study for capturing and sharing the creation process. Art Documentation: Bulletin of the Art Libraries Society of North America, 31 (2), 219-234.
This article provided such an interesting subject matter. The paper provided such an innovative look at how a curator can make a positive partnership with the artist to preserve digital media art in a way that other users can learn from the preserved information. The article was well-organized, provided a clear explanation of the author’s planned out research method, and a clear conclusion. Kim, a choreographer, offers advice on how artists and curators can collaborate and communicate better in the digital environment utilizing free software. The author does not fail to detail the challenges of maintaining such collaboration but offers tips on how to learn from these challenges. Overall, this article was a joy to read and had an appealing subject matter.
Knight, J. (2012). Archiving, Distribution, and Experimental Moving Image Histories. The Moving Image 12(1), 65-86. University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from Project MUSE database.
This article examines the transitory nature of line resources and the various methods used to create interest and visibility. This article also explores how the internet has broken down the traditional boundaries between a distribution collection and an archive. With the advent of technology and the internet, institutions are challenged to find new ways to distribute their materials, raise interest in the collection, and develop frameworks for the objects.
Landi, A. (2010). When Your Art Has a Hard Drive. Artnews, 109(10), 104-107.
This article presents a good overview on the contrasting views of maintaining the original media and updating to new technologies to preserve artworks. Artist input is vital to these decisions. Museums are developing questionnaires for new media artists to fill out before an artwork is accepted into the collection. This information is used to document how the work was created and also the artist’s views on how the piece should be preserved. Active management is stressed; new media artwork cannot sit in storage long-term like traditional arts. Regular maintenance for migration or equipment repair is needed.
Laurenson, P. (2006). Authenticity, change and loss in the conservation of time-based media installations. Tate Papers, (6), Retrieved from http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/authenticity-change-and-loss-conservation-time-based-media
This paper examines the three conservation concepts of authenticity, change, and loss and how they may be interpreted in relation to time-based media works of art. Time-based media refers to works that incorporate videos, slides, film, audio, or computer-based elements. These elements impact the development of a conceptual framework for their conservation. This paper examines the role of conservation in time-based media by defining the purpose of conservation, identifying the properties of these installations, and developing a framework for media-based objects that will eventually fit a wider range of conservation objects.
Laurenson, P. (December 07, 2001). Developing Strategies for the Conservation of Installations Incorporating Time-Based Media with Reference to Gary Hill's "Between Cinema and a Hard Place." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 40, 3, 259.
This article discusses the role of conservation and preservation of digital art. In relation to traditional conservation, conservators need to discuss how to deal with this relatively new and increasingly created art form.
Legrady, George. (2002). “Pockets Full of Memories: an interactive museum installation.” Visual Communication 1 (2): 163–169.
Legrady’s article encompasses the efforts of preserving a digital installation entitled “Pockets Full of Memories,” an artwork inspired by the themes of memory. The history of the project is given in detail as well as the main institutions that backed the project from the beginning. A description of the algorithm and the visual interface of the digital installation is also given, which gives the reader a good idea as to how the digital curation process is directly applied to a digital work of art such as an installation. Legrady’s article provided an interesting look at the digital curation process in action on an artifact that covers an equally interesting subject.
Legrady, George. (1990). “Image, Language, and Belief in Synthesis.” Art Journal 49 (3): 266–271.
This article by artist George Legrady is an earlier work addressing more philosophical questions of processing digital information. However, he provides basic building blocks of digital, numerical structures as “statistical representations” whose success depends on their ability to produce enough information to overwhelm us, and as result, become an illusion. Though much of the article Legrady discusses how his own works represent these philosophies, the beginning section is an excellent source for understanding digital 101 in media art, and may be a good read for those who are more technically inclined.
Little, G. (2011). We Are All Digital Humanists Now. The Journal of academic librarianship (0099-1333), 37 (4), p. 352. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/science/article/pii/S0099133311001108#
Geoffrey Little discusses the concept that in our modern era, we are all digital humanists. With such a vast array of information, the question becomes: how do we preserve, organize and build infrastructures to support and share all of this information? Little suggests that, as digital curators, we need to join forces; interdisciplinary teams of IT specialists, scholars and librarians must come together to sustain digital humanities projects. The author points to Robert Darnton’s 2011 proposal of a National Digital Public Library as a non-profit solution to media preservation and promotion. The author also examines the pitfalls of funding digital humanities projects as well as sustainability issues, citing the Linguistic Atlas Project as an example of a digital repository that succeeded after collaborating with the University of Georgia library.
MacDonald, C. (February 01, 2009). Scoring the Work: Documenting Practice and Performance in Variable Media Art. Leonardo, 42, 1, 59-63.
This article discusses documentation of variable media art. MacDonald discusses how documentation is a practice that speaks to the creation and distribution of knowledge, but that with media art it is both documenting as a practice of art-making and then being documented.
Maitland, E., & Hall, C. (2006). Cryogenics and creativity: The frankenstein factor in cultural preservation. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 21(3), 327. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/236959581?accountid=14925
This article examines how installation art is changing the dynamics of conservation. Installation art, which often uses mixed media presentations for temporary exhibits, creates challenges for conservators who have to create new frameworks for this medium. While there are currently elements to describe, examine, and preserve installation art, the challenges arise when considering the compatibility of future equipment for electronic media. This paper suggests that conservators focus on the experience of the installation art rather than the preservation aspects, which challenges the authenticity and accuracy concepts that are central to conservation.
Manovich, L. (2011). What is visualisation?. Visual Studies, 26, 1, 36-49.
This article discusses the role of visualization from the 18th century in art to current trends of visualization in media art. The article discusses current techniques and software to preserve and explore the works visually.
Manovich, L. (2006). “Image Future.” Animation 1 (1): 25–44.
This article by Manovich discusses the present and future states of animated media. In it, he proposes that besides purely animated films and sequences the future asks for a hybrid of both traditional and new digital methods, and that their creators must be well versed in both, and that this hybrid is the new territory towards which the field of animation as a whole is moving. Its significance to digital curation is that those dealing with the preservation of moving images must understand the role hybrid media.
Manovich, L. (2002). What is New Media? In Manovich, L., The language of new media. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Manovich’s The Language of New Media is one of the earliest and most cited texts about new media and media art. This chapter specifically lays down some principles when beginning to try to understand what new media is (and one must be able to do so in order to preserve it) such as numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding. Because of its publishing over ten years ago, today it is frequently revisited and referenced by scholars writing about the preservation of media art, and it forms the basis of many discussed. It is important to be familiar with the ideas he discusses.
Manovich, L. (October 01, 2002). Ten Key Texts on Digital Art: 1970-2000. Leonardo, 35, 5, 567-575.
This article discusses ten written works on digital and media art. One of the things that is highlighted is the idea that digital art seems relatively new but the article discusses some exhibitions back in the 1960s. These ten texts help to bring the art form to the forefront.
Marchese, F. T. (2011). Conserving Digital Art for Deep Time. Leonardo, 44(4), 302-308.
By using software engineering practices as a preservation methodology for digital artworks, this article presented a fresh perspective. Marchese stresses several levels of documentation: system requirements, architecture/design, technical (code,) end user (manuals,) and supplementary materials. Much of the responsibility of an artwork’s longevity is on the artist; the artist should utilize best practices such as standard programming code and data structure. The stance in this article is the preservation of an artwork’s identity, not necessarily its components.
Miz, E. (2010). Art and the new media. CHOICE, 47 (8), 1411-1423.
This article focuses exclusively on the subject of new media art and the efforts of digital preservation of new media art. One main strength of the article is that it lists a clear definition of what new media art encompasses and what is excluded by the term. It also introduces some interesting topics such as cyborg art that readers might be unfamiliar with. Although this article does not primarily focus on curation theories, the article does provide a good introduction to what constitutes as new media art. This would also appeal to readers with a general interest in art, digital or traditional. For our project, this could be useful for understanding a specific term.
Paul, C. (2012). The myth of immateriality - presenting new media art. Technoetic Arts: A Journal Of Speculative Research, 10(2/3), 167-172.
This article examines the conceptual, philosophical, and practical issues that arise when accommodating new media art in traditional methods of presenting, collecting, and preserving art. New media art calls for a distributed, living information space in which one artists and conservators can exchange, collaborate, and present materials in a way that is transparent and flexible. This paper analyzes new approaches within museums to presentation, collection, documentation, and preservation, and how the roles of artists, audiences, and curators are changed through digital culture and practice.
Pes, J. (2008). Time-based art needs plenty of tender, loving care. Art Newspaper, 1731.
This is a relatively brief essay, but the author makes good points on the definition of media art. Pes claims that even the term “new media art” is obsolete and that the term “time-based media” should be used instead. The view presented here is to not focus on the hardware but the intangibles of the artwork.
Real, W. (2001). Toward guidelines for practice in the preservation and documentation of technology-based installation art. Journal of the American institute for conservation, 40(3), 211-231. Retrieved from http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/jaic/articles/jaic40-03-004.html
The emergence of new media technologies and their integration into the creative process has created the concept of “variable media,” which describes creative projects which incorporate elements that may be compromised in the future. Future technological changes present challenges for conservators when presented with digital materials. The use of digital materials has also extended the field of digital preservation to encompass works of art. This paper highlights the role of metadata development initiatives to accommodate the complex documentation of the life cycles of new media artworks and digital objects.
Rinehart, R. (2007). The media art notation system: documenting and preserving digital/media art. Leonardo, 40 (2), 181-187.
This particular article lends to the more practical aspects of digital media art curation, namely that of the notation system for the information. This article goes along well with the material on metadata and file formats from earlier within this class, which should help with the project immensely. The article gives a clear explanation on the requirements of a good notation system and how this system is arranged. Rinehart also gives an example of a concept model for a notation system, thus giving readers a visual example to go by, which may help with the project as a whole. The more examples the group has to go by such as this, the better we will have an idea of what we are trying to do.
Schnepp, S. R. (2005). On Time: Approaches to the Conservation of Film, Videotape, and Digital Media. Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 31(2), 96-112.
The author is an objects conservator at the Art Institute of Chicago; not surprisingly this article deals with the conservation of new media. There is not much discussion about the ethical considerations of preserving new media artworks by migration or utilization of newer technologies. Schnepp, noting that time-based media faces a different set of challenges than the conservation of traditional materials, describes a recent treatment of a Bruce Nauman film. Collaboration between Schnepp, a couple experts and the artist himself, was able to produce additional analog copies of the film. Overall, this article applied rather traditional conservation concepts to modern media artworks.
Scholz, T. (2005). New-Media Art Education and Its Discontents. Art Journal, 64, 1, 95-108.
This article discusses the role of Academia in teaching and therefore preserving new media art. Some of the topics that it discusses are access to information and media tools and the ability to keep current with these media tools. Another big topic is globalization and media sharing with examples of cell phones, emails, wikis, blogs, etc…
Simko, V., Masa, M. & Giaretta, D. (2009). Long-Term Digital Preservation of a New Media Performance: Can we Re-Perform it in 100 Years? International Preservation News, 47, p. 32-35. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/lisa/docview/197393310/fulltext/1419487A17026B52003/2?accountid=14925
A technical overview of a process of preserving media art, such as dance, theatre and music, based upon the OAIS model. The article deals with the difficulties of archiving new performance media, and illustrates a new working model, the CASPAR project. The building blocks of the CASPAR project are process, data and motivators. This essay was intended for both artists and curators in regard to archival workflow, with instructions on how to render and capture 3D scenes with multiple cameras. The aim is to assist museums in documenting media art.
Sterling, B. “Digital Decay.” In Depocas, A., Ippolito, J., & Jones, C. (2003). Permanence through change: The variable media approach = L' approche des médias variables. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications.
Sterling’s text in this publication from the Guggenheim is an excellent introductory text for someone new to the challenges that digital preservation of variable media and/or media art present. As opposed to more technical articles, this shows the problems in plain light, such as drawing comparisons between the preservation of paintings and the preservation of hardware, or bits, or magnetic tape. The latter materials are intrinsic to media art and are subject to the same problems as traditional art works (sunlight, moisture, heat) but also come with a variety of their own issues, such as obsolescence and proprietary formats.
Stumm, C. (2004). Preservation of Electronic Media in Libraries, Museums, and Archives. The Moving Image, 4(2), 38-63. University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/journals/the_moving_image/v004/4.2stumm.html
Stumm asserts that a preservation strategy must be coordinated between libraries, museums and archives, thus a general survey of the preservation practices of these institutions was undertaken to determine the electronic holdings, methods and limitations of conservation. Outlined within the article are preservation strategies for the cultural heritage community: System preservation, Refreshing, Migration, Emulation, Encapsulation and Standardization. Museums now must deal with the task of maintaining contemporary media, and it is suggested that guidelines and practices should be created across the board, by including libraries and archives. The survey determined that financial restrictions were the number one factor that limited electronic media preservation. This study stresses the need for preservation strategies, as many institutions have concerns about conservation, but the apprehension is not translating to action.
Tarr, K. & Shay, W. (2013). How Film (and Video) Found Its Way into “Our Nation’s Attic”: A Conversation about the Origins of Audiovisual Collecting and Archiving at the Smithsonian Institution. The Moving Image, 13(1), 178-184. University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/journals/the_moving_image/v013/13.1.tarr.html
A discussion with moving image archivists from five Smithsonian archival units is documented within this article. Topics covered include the perception of audiovisual primary materials, managing and processing collections, developing cold storage, digital asset management, and audiovisual equipment. The article is a broad overview and history of conservation practices, and would be beneficial to those interested in learning about the procedures undertaken to preserve audiovisual materials within the Archives of American Art, the Human Studies Film Archives, the National Museum of American History Archives Center, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Waelder, P. (2010). Preserving the Ephemeral. Etc, (91), 46-47.
Waelder, an art critic and curator, presents a commentary on the stability of new media art and its preservation. He philosophizes about how new media, the “art of tomorrow,” quickly becomes obsolete “art of the past.” He posits that for media artworks to be preserved, they must remain adaptable and mutable. Full documentation of the artwork and the artist’s intentions are vital. Waelder envisions the preservation practices of new media art to be a communal effort by the artists, art world, and the public.
Winget, M. (2005). Digital preservation of new media art through exploration of established symbolic representation systems. Retrieved from http://www.dspace.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/23/Winget_JCDLDocConsort.pdf?sequence=
This last article also tends to focus on specific strategies used for preserving new media art. Each strategy is explained in detail, and is even broken down into phases. Since the group will likely be dealing with much information here, it would be definitely helpful to have a breakdown of different curation strategies and know their own individual purpose. The article also indicates when a particular strategy would be used for what situation, which also would provide practical help for the group project. It is good to know definitions of practices, but having these strategies here is what will help bring the group to completion.
Wolff, R. (2013). Keeping New Media New. Artnews, 112(9), 76-81.
This article deals with the paradox of preserving art that was often created to be ephemeral. The author posits that most new media art was created to be temporary. The art world compared to other entities, like archives and libraries, are grappling more with the intellectual issues of preserving media works since transferring the media to other formats or updating parts could be considered reinterpreting the artwork. One of the most interesting concepts in this article was the comparison of new media art to living organisms. Like animals in zoos, there is a lifecycle that is documented and when the lifecycle is completed there is documentation to be utilized for future research.
