“Networked Art Practice after Digital Preservation” presented by Hunter and Cook

Artist Talk related to the same-titled workshop. The workshop traces the edges and boundaries of the preservation of both analogue and digital networked art practice. Focusing upon artworks which draw on networks of distribution (such as mail art, and the Internet) as their primary medium of production, we aim to unpack existing digital preservation efforts concerning online and offline exchanges, while also feeling out the present and future implications of the use of machine learning and data mining within preservation strategies and how they affect artistic and curatorial agency and authorship.

Typically understood as inherently ephemeral (as in the case of mail art) or immaterial (as with internet-based exchanges), networked art practice often, deliberately, resists collection and preservation. Given its linkages to wider networks, knowing what the edge or boundary of the work is, and where to ‘draw a line’ around its preservation is a substantial challenge.

Workshop participants will collectively identify questions addressing digital preservation (including ‘preventative conservation’ and record-keeping) as it is manifest within the production, distribution and reception of networked art practices. Joined by guest practitioners sharing first-hand insights, participants will then work in groups to develop novel approaches, leading towards a greater understanding of the networked conservation concerns of a diverse range of work.