Book part:
Net-based and Networked. Challenges for the conservation of digital art

Abstract

Digital art, in its countless manifestations, has become an integral part of contemporary art production. Its cultural relevance is unquestioned, but its conservation does present new challenges to museums and collections alike. After all, we are not talking about static objects that can be “stabilized” in the classical sense; rather, digital art is akin to performance because new condi-tions can arise in each process or each performance. In an era of rapid technological change and short-lived technologies, the question of how best to conserve our digital heritage is becoming increasingly urgent. With examples of works from the programming and the collection of HeK (House of Electronic Arts Basel) as a unique institution with a pio-neering role in Switzerland, the text gives insight into software-based ar-tistic practice and the complex tasks of preservation of digital art. The text will focus on some of the challenges and opportunities in the conservation and contextualization of these media art practices for museums, empha-sizing the collaborative approach and cooperation beyond institutional borders.

Download icon

Published in:

Preferred Citation
BibTex
Himmelsbach, Sabine: Net-based and Networked. Challenges for the conservation of digital art. In: Grau, Oliver;Hoth, Janina;Wandl-Vogt, Eveline: Digital Art through the Looking Glass. New strategies for archiving, collecting and preserving in digital humanities. Krems a.d. Donau: Edition Donau-Universität 2019, S. 233-246. DOI: 10.25969/mediarep/13186.
@INCOLLECTION{Himmelsbach2019,
 author = {Himmelsbach, Sabine},
 title = {Net-based and Networked. Challenges for the conservation of digital art},
 year = 2019,
 doi = {10.25969/mediarep/13186},
 editor = {Grau, Oliver and Hoth, Janina and Wandl-Vogt, Eveline},
 address = {Krems a.d. Donau},
 booktitle = {Digital Art through the Looking Glass. New strategies for archiving, collecting and preserving in digital humanities},
 pages = {233--246},
 publisher = {Edition Donau-Universität},
}
license icon

As long as there is no further specification, the item is under the following license: Creative Commons - Namensnennung