Media Art and the Digital Archive

Media Art and the Digital Archive

Archives

For many, the idea of digital archives can often appear to be fundamentally opposed to media and art and can appear to be impossible to accomplish. This article examines some of the problems that digital archivists face when attempting to incorporate art pieces into their projects. According to Saba, even though a piece of art may have an audio or visual component, that does not make it the most important part of the piece. Archivists must determine which parts of the media are essential for its preservation and place a priority on these components, even if it may reduce the complexity of the piece. In addition to the physical components of the art piece, it is crucial to present its context in greater society, allowing the archive to become a place of cultural conservation. This can often include connecting the media to other pieces that are present in the collection. The documentation of these aspects of an art piece can be challenging when considering works that are performance or time based. Saba also questions how archives can effectively incorporate all of these components into an archive, with proper use of metadata, while also preserving the complexities that are present in the art piece.

Saba, Cosetta G.

2013

Rahman, Sabiha

Book chapter

ISBN: 9789048513833

Saba, Cosetta G. "Media Art and the Digital Archive." Preserving and Exhibiting Media Art: Challenges and Perspectives, edited by Noordegraaf Julia, Saba Cosetta G., Le Maitre Barbara, and Hediger Vinzenz, 101-21. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2013. doi:10.2307/j.ctt6wp6f3.9.