unfortunate title perhaps, but a very interesting resource
-----Original Message-----
From: Conal McCarthy
Sent: Thu 8/28/2003 4:55 PM
To: Sean Cubitt
Cc:
Subject: FW: Announcement: National Digital Forum Website Launched
FYI
The National Digital Forum (NDF) is pleased to announce the launch of
its website at http://ndf.natlib.govt.nz
The purpose of the site is to provide information about the NDF and to
serve as a "one stop shop" of quality assured information for New
Zealand's cultural heritage professionals.
WHAT IS THE NATIONAL DIGITAL FORUM?
The National Digital Forum was established at an event hosted by the
National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa in May
2002. Representatives from a number of 'memory institutions' met to
discuss the challenges involved in creating and delivering New Zealand
cultural resources in digital form.
Since that time a Steering Committee with representatives from museums,
archives, art galleries, libraries, government and the private sector
has been meeting regularly to identify national opportunities for
collaboration and information sharing.
The next National Digital Forum event will be held at Te Papa on 29-30
September 2003. Details of this event will be made available shortly.
AIMS AND CONTENT OF THE SITE
The NDF site aims to provide information that is
- accessible
- accurate
- relevant to New Zealand but informed by international developments,
and
- representative of the range of organisations across the cultural
heritage sector.
The site is aimed at anyone in New Zealand libraries, archives, museums
and galleries who wants to develop their professional knowledge about
how to create, deliver and preserve digital cultural heritage
materials.
Content on the site includes:
Register of Digitisation Initiatives
- A central source of information about New Zealand digitisation
projects
Information resources
- Policies and guidelines, and technical and metadata standards that
will make your NZ content world class.
- Pointers to training resources and relevant conference papers and
articles
- Mailing lists and links that will give you plenty of avenues for
further exploration
Toolkit
- Document templates and other planning tools
The site was developed for the NDF by the National Library of New
Zealand and will be hosted by the Library and the Ministry for Culture
and Heritage. The Library would particularly like to acknowledge the
contribution of Rose Holley (University of Auckland) to the initial
assessment of content for the site.
A cross-sectoral editorial team will select new content using criteria
that are available at the site. Suggestions for resources to include on
the site are welcome and can be submitted using the online contact
form.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For more information about the National Digital Forum or about the NDF
website, please contact ndf(a)natlib.govt.nz
Sam Searle
Digital Library Projects Leader
National Library of New Zealand
Tel: +64 4 474 3032
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Project shown* presents the VJ in NEW ENVIRONS a three day symposium 28th
-30th August 03. Creation, 105 Worcester St, Christchurch.
Vjs and experimental artists attending from Auckland, Wellington, Takaka,
and Christchurch bring with them the skills that have given so much visual
pleasure over the years, at events like Destination, Visions, Alpine unity,
and the one grand Gathering. Vj-ing is a dynamic, fast evolving and exciting
creative practice. This event will showcase it as an art form.
Project shown* would like to invite you to attend the following
presentations, held in the Creation theatre space, with gold coin entry.
Friday 29th
A series of short talks starting at 12pm until 3pm,
Speakers will be Lotech, Snippet, D.light, Eathervision, and Mr J,
Topics will explore experimental video, new Vj technologies, live
performance.
Saturday night 30th
Start your night with a live multi screen visual feast.
New Environs, Lotech, D.light, Jay, Razordoll, Mr J, mixing up real-time
image treats with sound artists Snippet, Organism and Phisoundart laying
down the tunes.
For further information visit www.projectshown.org.nz
Or contact Naomi Lamb (project co-ordinator) 012 461 583,
projectshown(a)hotmail.com
Ps*
creative video forum. public screenings.
web---www.projectshown.org.nz,
post--Po Box 1351
Christchurch.
phone-021 461 583
>From: ada_list-request(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
>Reply-To: ada_list(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
>To: ada_list(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
>Subject: Ada_list Digest, Vol 6, Issue 19
>Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:00:04 +1200 (NZST)
>
>Send Ada_list mailing list submissions to
> ada_list(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
>
>To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/ada_list
>or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> ada_list-request(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
>
>You can reach the person managing the list at
> ada_list-owner(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
>
>When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>than "Re: Contents of Ada_list digest..."
>
>
>Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Fwd: Cultural Provocation (Sean Cubitt)
> 2. Re: Archiving (Lissa Mitchell)
> 3. Re: Fwd: Cultural Provocation (Rewa F Wright)
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Message: 1
>Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 12:05:15 +1200
>From: Sean Cubitt <seanc(a)waikato.ac.nz>
>Subject: [Ada_list] Fwd: Cultural Provocation
>To: ada_list(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
>Message-ID: <a05210606bb6f0323047e(a)[130.217.50.37]>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
>
> >
> >
> >REGISTER NOW!!
> >Cultural Provocation:
> > Art, Activism and Social Change will take place on the 29th, 30th and
>31st
> >of August 2003
> >Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
> >
> >Cultural Provocation is a marae-based hui and conference bringing
> >together leading theorists, critics, artists and activists.
> >
> >Local and international contributors include project collaborator,
> >writer and cultural theorist John Welchman (UK/USA), film maker Merata
> >Mita (Ngati Pikiao) (NZ), art historian and critic Grant Kester (USA),
> >Yes Men initiator, artist and activist Andy Bichlbaum, Parihaka
> >(Taranaki Iwi) musician, activist and historian Te Miringa Hohaia (NZ).
> >
> >Aotearoa/New Zealand's social and political history has been punctuated
> >by dramatic acts of "cultural provocation," symbolic gestures that have
> >continued to challenge the values of the dominant culture. From the
> >invasions of Parihaka and Maungapohatu, through to the 1981 Springbok
> >Tour, Bastion Point, and a Nuclear Free nation, Aotearoa/New Zealand's
> >distinct political identity has been fueled by and articulated through
> >the images and iconography of artists.
> >
> >From Hone Heke to Tame Iti, Maori have been at the forefront of this
> >tradition in Aotearoa/New Zealand and have played a central part in its
> >examination, pointing up the conflicting values of coloniser and
> >colonised.
> >
> >The core planning group consists of John Welchman (UK/USA), Joyce
> >Campbell (USA/NZ), Ann Shelton (NZ), Jonathan Bywater (NZ), Natalie
> >Robertson (NZ).
> >
> >"Cultural Provocation - Art, Activism and Social Change" is sponsored by
> >
> >Manukau School of Visual Arts, Manukau Institute of Technology, Creative
> >
> >New Zealand, Artspace and The University of Auckland.
> >
> >For information, and registration visit
> >our website at
> > http://www.manukau.ac.nz/visual_arts/registration.asp
>
>
>--
>Sean Cubitt * Screen and Media Studies * University of Waikato *
>Private Bag 3105 * Hamilton * New Zealand * seanc(a)waikato.ac.nz * T:
>+64 (0)7 838 4543 * F: +64 (0)7 838 4767
>
>http://www.waikato.ac.nz/film
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 2
>Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 14:50:33 +1200
>From: Lissa Mitchell <lissa(a)nzfa.org.nz>
>Subject: Re: [Ada_list] Archiving
>To: Aotearoa Digital Arts <ada_list(a)list.waikato.ac.nz>
>Message-ID: <BB6FD2B9.5BAE%lissa(a)nzfa.org.nz>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
>
>Hi,
>this discussion of codecs, while useful, is perhaps getting ahead of
>things.
>
>I think Danny made a good point about an Archive setting its collection
>policies and artists deciding whether that suits them or not.
>
>A couple of people - Deborah, Marcus - have written of their intention to
>incorporate some form of digital database into schemes they are working on.
>I'm wondering if they might tell the list a bit more about what they are
>planning.
>
>In terms of an archive with national priorties, part of that success would
>be the quality of the backup and duplication. I'm wondering if people have
>any suggestions of organisations that might be counted on to host copies of
>an archive on their server(s).
>
>:)
>Lissa
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 3
>Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 18:22:27 +1200
>From: "Rewa F Wright" <rewa.wright(a)aut.ac.nz>
>Subject: Re: [Ada_list] Fwd: Cultural Provocation
>To: <ada_list(a)list.waikato.ac.nz>
>Message-ID: <sf4a53eb.053(a)gwdom1.aut.ac.nz>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
>kia ora sean
>thanks for the link. i'm scheduled to attend this one, although may
>have to skip the first two days, since my thesis is due on Monday the
>1st. see you there,
>rewa
>
> >>> seanc(a)waikato.ac.nz 08/25/03 12:05p.m. >>>
> >
> >
> >REGISTER NOW!!
> >Cultural Provocation:
> > Art, Activism and Social Change will take place on the 29th, 30th
>and 31st
> >of August 2003
> >Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
> >
> >Cultural Provocation is a marae-based hui and conference bringing
> >together leading theorists, critics, artists and activists.
> >
> >Local and international contributors include project collaborator,
> >writer and cultural theorist John Welchman (UK/USA), film maker
>Merata
> >Mita (Ngati Pikiao) (NZ), art historian and critic Grant Kester
>(USA),
> >Yes Men initiator, artist and activist Andy Bichlbaum, Parihaka
> >(Taranaki Iwi) musician, activist and historian Te Miringa Hohaia
>(NZ).
> >
> >Aotearoa/New Zealand's social and political history has been
>punctuated
> >by dramatic acts of "cultural provocation," symbolic gestures that
>have
> >continued to challenge the values of the dominant culture. From the
> >invasions of Parihaka and Maungapohatu, through to the 1981
>Springbok
> >Tour, Bastion Point, and a Nuclear Free nation, Aotearoa/New
>Zealand's
> >distinct political identity has been fueled by and articulated
>through
> >the images and iconography of artists.
> >
> >From Hone Heke to Tame Iti, Maori have been at the forefront of
>this
> >tradition in Aotearoa/New Zealand and have played a central part in
>its
> >examination, pointing up the conflicting values of coloniser and
> >colonised.
> >
> >The core planning group consists of John Welchman (UK/USA), Joyce
> >Campbell (USA/NZ), Ann Shelton (NZ), Jonathan Bywater (NZ), Natalie
> >Robertson (NZ).
> >
> >"Cultural Provocation - Art, Activism and Social Change" is
>sponsored by
> >
> >Manukau School of Visual Arts, Manukau Institute of Technology,
>Creative
> >
> >New Zealand, Artspace and The University of Auckland.
> >
> >For information, and registration visit
> >our website at
> > http://www.manukau.ac.nz/visual_arts/registration.asp
>
>
>--
>Sean Cubitt * Screen and Media Studies * University of Waikato *
>Private Bag 3105 * Hamilton * New Zealand * seanc(a)waikato.ac.nz * T:
>
>+64 (0)7 838 4543 * F: +64 (0)7 838 4767
>
>http://www.waikato.ac.nz/film
>_______________________________________________
>Ada_list mailing list
>Ada_list(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
>http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/ada_list
>
>------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>Ada_list mailing list
>Ada_list(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
>http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/ada_list
>
>
>End of Ada_list Digest, Vol 6, Issue 19
>***************************************
_________________________________________________________________
Download MSN Messenger @ http://messenger.xtramsn.co.nz - talk to family
and friends overseas!
kia ora sean
thanks for the link. i'm scheduled to attend this one, although may
have to skip the first two days, since my thesis is due on Monday the
1st. see you there,
rewa
>>> seanc(a)waikato.ac.nz 08/25/03 12:05p.m. >>>
>
>
>REGISTER NOW!!
>Cultural Provocation:
> Art, Activism and Social Change will take place on the 29th, 30th
and 31st
>of August 2003
>Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
>
>Cultural Provocation is a marae-based hui and conference bringing
>together leading theorists, critics, artists and activists.
>
>Local and international contributors include project collaborator,
>writer and cultural theorist John Welchman (UK/USA), film maker
Merata
>Mita (Ngati Pikiao) (NZ), art historian and critic Grant Kester
(USA),
>Yes Men initiator, artist and activist Andy Bichlbaum, Parihaka
>(Taranaki Iwi) musician, activist and historian Te Miringa Hohaia
(NZ).
>
>Aotearoa/New Zealand's social and political history has been
punctuated
>by dramatic acts of "cultural provocation," symbolic gestures that
have
>continued to challenge the values of the dominant culture. From the
>invasions of Parihaka and Maungapohatu, through to the 1981
Springbok
>Tour, Bastion Point, and a Nuclear Free nation, Aotearoa/New
Zealand's
>distinct political identity has been fueled by and articulated
through
>the images and iconography of artists.
>
>From Hone Heke to Tame Iti, Maori have been at the forefront of
this
>tradition in Aotearoa/New Zealand and have played a central part in
its
>examination, pointing up the conflicting values of coloniser and
>colonised.
>
>The core planning group consists of John Welchman (UK/USA), Joyce
>Campbell (USA/NZ), Ann Shelton (NZ), Jonathan Bywater (NZ), Natalie
>Robertson (NZ).
>
>"Cultural Provocation - Art, Activism and Social Change" is
sponsored by
>
>Manukau School of Visual Arts, Manukau Institute of Technology,
Creative
>
>New Zealand, Artspace and The University of Auckland.
>
>For information, and registration visit
>our website at
> http://www.manukau.ac.nz/visual_arts/registration.asp
--
Sean Cubitt * Screen and Media Studies * University of Waikato *
Private Bag 3105 * Hamilton * New Zealand * seanc(a)waikato.ac.nz * T:
+64 (0)7 838 4543 * F: +64 (0)7 838 4767
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/film
_______________________________________________
Ada_list mailing list
Ada_list(a)list.waikato.ac.nz
http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/ada_list
Hi,
this discussion of codecs, while useful, is perhaps getting ahead of things.
I think Danny made a good point about an Archive setting its collection
policies and artists deciding whether that suits them or not.
A couple of people - Deborah, Marcus - have written of their intention to
incorporate some form of digital database into schemes they are working on.
I'm wondering if they might tell the list a bit more about what they are
planning.
In terms of an archive with national priorties, part of that success would
be the quality of the backup and duplication. I'm wondering if people have
any suggestions of organisations that might be counted on to host copies of
an archive on their server(s).
:)
Lissa
>
>
>REGISTER NOW!!
>Cultural Provocation:
> Art, Activism and Social Change will take place on the 29th, 30th and 31st
>of August 2003
>Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
>
>Cultural Provocation is a marae-based hui and conference bringing
>together leading theorists, critics, artists and activists.
>
>Local and international contributors include project collaborator,
>writer and cultural theorist John Welchman (UK/USA), film maker Merata
>Mita (Ngati Pikiao) (NZ), art historian and critic Grant Kester (USA),
>Yes Men initiator, artist and activist Andy Bichlbaum, Parihaka
>(Taranaki Iwi) musician, activist and historian Te Miringa Hohaia (NZ).
>
>Aotearoa/New Zealand's social and political history has been punctuated
>by dramatic acts of "cultural provocation," symbolic gestures that have
>continued to challenge the values of the dominant culture. From the
>invasions of Parihaka and Maungapohatu, through to the 1981 Springbok
>Tour, Bastion Point, and a Nuclear Free nation, Aotearoa/New Zealand's
>distinct political identity has been fueled by and articulated through
>the images and iconography of artists.
>
>From Hone Heke to Tame Iti, Maori have been at the forefront of this
>tradition in Aotearoa/New Zealand and have played a central part in its
>examination, pointing up the conflicting values of coloniser and
>colonised.
>
>The core planning group consists of John Welchman (UK/USA), Joyce
>Campbell (USA/NZ), Ann Shelton (NZ), Jonathan Bywater (NZ), Natalie
>Robertson (NZ).
>
>"Cultural Provocation - Art, Activism and Social Change" is sponsored by
>
>Manukau School of Visual Arts, Manukau Institute of Technology, Creative
>
>New Zealand, Artspace and The University of Auckland.
>
>For information, and registration visit
>our website at
> http://www.manukau.ac.nz/visual_arts/registration.asp
--
Sean Cubitt * Screen and Media Studies * University of Waikato *
Private Bag 3105 * Hamilton * New Zealand * seanc(a)waikato.ac.nz * T:
+64 (0)7 838 4543 * F: +64 (0)7 838 4767
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/film
INTERSCULPT 2003
INTERSCULPT celebrates its 10 years. The International Computer-sculpure
Exhibition was launched in 1993 and became a biennial in 1995. Ever
since, more and more venues, artists and manufacturers of the "
technology of the digital object " participate.
The event has become a network which covers nearly all continents :
Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, America. It presents the latest
researches in the domain of art (Sculpture and Architecture real and
virtual) and technology (Digitalization and 3D printing, video
animation, materials, equipment, software, Internet).
Exhibitions and lectures schedule on
www.intersculpt.org/is2003/intro-is2003.htm <http://www.intersculpt.org>
If you want, as a concerned artist, to send us material for the
exhibition, please follow the instructions at
http://www.intersculpt.org/is2003/is2003-precisions.htm
and use
ftp://www.intersculpt.pimkey.com/intersculpt/incoming/paris-exhibition/
to send your files.
To take part in the 3rd DSC:
3rd Digital Sculpture Competition
Since 1999, an international competition has been organized on the Web.
The only constraint for the competitors is the necessiy to submit 3D
fine art objects which can be realized.
An international panel of art and NT experts selects the 3 projects
which present the highest aesthetic, poetic and technical qualities.
The choice is without the ideology, without the bias of so many art
competitions.
The 3 winners are rewarded by renowned sponsors ; the softwares RHINO
from MacNEEL, ARCHICAD from ABVENT and MAGICS RP from MATERIALISE, and
the realization of their projects by RP technique at MATERIALISE.
The 3rd DSC is opened from June, 1 , to September, 30.
The results will be announced on October, 17, at LA FNAC DIGITALE in
Paris.
More infos: www.intersculpt.org/
<http://www.intersculpt.org/%20is2003/3dsc/dsc2003.htm>
is2003/3dsc/dsc2003.htm
To send your files:
ftp://www.intersculpt.pimkey.com/intersculpt/incoming/3dsc/
Thanks for your attention.
***********************************
Christian LAVIGNE
CYBERSCULPTURE & CO manager
www.impression3d.com
lavigne(a)impression3d.com
***********************************
Christian LAVIGNE
adresses perso
http://www.toile-metisse.org/cl/
lavigne(a)toile-metisse.org
***********************************
Président de TOILE METISSE
ONG agréée par l'Agence de la Francophonie
http://www.toile-metisse.org
*
Secrétaire Général d'Ars Mathématica
Co-fondateur d'INTERSCULPT
http://www.intersculpt.org
*
écrivain & artiste multimedia
robosculpture & télésculpture
conseil technologique
création de sites web
*
1, Cour de Rohan, 75006 Paris, France
tel: 33 (0)1 43 26 45 85 . cel: 33 (0)6 73 64 62 51
*****************************************************
it never rains but . . .
an invitation from sunny sunderland
(but do check out the CRUMB webiste. I Have a copy of the Baltic
conference papers if anyone's interested)
s
>
>From: Beryl Graham <beryl(a)stare.com>
>Subject: Curating New Media Art - 3 jobs
>X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.0 required=5.0
> tests=none
> version=2.54
>X-Spam-Level:
>X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.54 (1.174.2.17-2003-05-11-exp)
>X-OriginalArrivalTime: 20 Aug 2003 16:05:36.0534 (UTC)
>FILETIME=[E4750360:01C36734]
>
>University of Sunderland. School of Arts, Design, Media & Culture
>
>Curating New Media Art
>
>Since 1993 the School has had a special interest in issues for
>exhibiting new media art (including Internet art, and interactive
>digital media). The CRUMB web resource for curators
><http://www.newmedia.sunderland.ac.uk/crumb/> is now an
>internationally acclaimed site, which complements the postgraduate
>work in Fine Art, Curating and Informatics at the University. A
>recent AHRB Research Grant enables the continued expansion of this
>research, in collaboration with BALTIC, The Centre for Contemporary
>Art:
>
>NEW MEDIA ART CURATOR/RESEARCHER
>Fixed-term 2 years
>37 hours per week
>£21,125 per annum
>A post-doctoral-level opportunity to curate and research new media
>art to public output (exhibition, publication or events).
>Ref No: ADMR16/01
>Closing date: 20th November 2003
>
>RESEARCH STUDENTSHIP IN NEW MEDIA ART/CURATION
>Fixed-term 3 years
>37 hours per week
>£9,000 per annum
>PhD proposals including practice-led artist/curator research are
>invited. Applicants should meet AHRB UK/EU residency regulations.
>Ref No: RS001
>Closing date: 20th October 2003.
>
>WEB SITE PROGRAMMER
>Fixed-term 3 years
>18.5 hours per week
>£10,155 per annum
>Web Designer and Programmer to take the CRUMB web resource into
>database-driven form.
>Ref No: ADMR17/01
>Closing date: 20th October 2003.
>
>Further details and application materials can be found on
><http://www.newmedia.sunderland.ac.uk/jobs/>.
>
>To apply, please submit your CV along with a letter of application
>and details of current salary, quoting vacancy title and reference
>number, to the Human Resources Department, University of Sunderland,
>Langham Tower, Ryhope Road, Sunderland, SR2 7EE or e-mail
>employee.recruitment(a)sunderland.ac.uk
--
Sean Cubitt * Screen and Media Studies * University of Waikato *
Private Bag 3105 * Hamilton * New Zealand * seanc(a)waikato.ac.nz * T:
+64 (0)7 838 4543 * F: +64 (0)7 838 4767
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/film
Mark Grimshaw was working Down at SIT earlier in the year but they have
no forwarding details for him. I was wondering if anyone on this list
knows where he might be.
I suppose a short introduction is also in order. My name is Simon
McCallum and I am a lecturer in Computer Science a the University of
Otago. The reason that I am interested in this list is that I am
creating a new course on computer game design, with the help of Mark
McGuire from the Design Studies Department. This paper will look at
how to design and build computer games and will include lectures about
Digital Arts given by Mark. This forum seem like a useful one to help
me increase my awareness of the current issues surrounding Digital Arts
in NZ.
Simon
---------------------------------------------------------------
Simon McCallum simon(a)cs.otago.ac.nz
Lecturer
Office: G03, 547 Castle st Office: (64)-3-479-5740
Department of Computer Science Dept : (64)-3-479-8578
University of Otago Fax : (64)-3-479-8529
Dunedin, New Zealand
http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/staff/simon.html
---------------------------------------------------------------
hi all...
sorry for all the spelling mistakes in the last mail...also, i just saw
this on slashdot:
"The divx codec is no longer free, no strings attached. Until recently,
when downloading the codec from divx.com, one could select Dr Divx for a
price, Divx Pro for a price, the divx codec for free, or the divx codec
with bundled adware to help support divx development etc. Recently the
site has changed. Now when one visits the download page, the only free
codec you can download is adware supported. This means even to just watch
divx movies and not do any actual enncoding, one has to install adware on
their machine. I for one will be finding a different video codec."
http://slashdot.org/articles/03/08/20/1940202.shtml?tid=185&tid=188&tid=97
adam
Hi Adam,
Thanks for your thoughts....
> What about existing institutions that archive web based work...There is a
> great service at http://www.archive.org that essentially archives
> everything that has ever been on the web since the webs genisis. Its a
> fantastic service, if you visit the site you can enter a url and the tech
> they have developed ('The Way BAck Engine') finds the sites it has
> archived under taht url and displays they in a searchable timeline.
>
> The big downside to this is that dynamic sites are not collected, but if
> you have flat html then its a very interesting technology.
> IS this appropriate for collecting and archiving web based art works? It
> seems to me that technically this mechanism archives web works very well,
> infact Vuk Cosic probably did not need to rip the Documenta site in his
> famous art hack 'Documenta Done' (http://www.ljudmila.org/~vuk/dx/) as the
> site was already archived in the
> caches of archive.org (its not quite true...not all the information was
> retained for the documenta site by archive.org but you get the point...).
>
> But how do we as artists feel about:
> 1. our content being archived automatically?
> 2. content being archived alongside every other piece of crap on the net?
>
> The second point relates to Lissas point of Film Archive vs Gallery? The
> difference might be that there is web based content already in orders
> of magnitude larger than all the video work ever made. Does scale alone
> change how we feel about archives? Are archives also about visibilty as
> well as preservation. The web is alreay a form of archive so what do we
> mean when we talk about archiving web works? What does it mean to archive
> something that is already part of a indexed and searchable but
> impossibly enormous archive?
> I personally like the idea of institutions such as the New Zealand
> Film Archive acquiring culturally significant web
> works, not because these organisations may be able to preserve
> the work technically, but because sites like archive.org do
> not present in themselves an appropriate context for presenting this work.
Does it matter to people whether their work is collected just cause they are
New Zealanders or is that irrelevant in the global (or US based scheme of
things)? If I was wanting to know that something was being archived for as
long as possible I would want to know what policies and priorities these
organisations have. If they decide to cut down on how much they are
retaining or decide to refocus themselves in a different way you have to
wonder how NZ related material would fare.
I guess I think archives are more open than galleries or museums. There is
more of a sense of working for the public good - less culivating and playing
the art market. So maybe an artist or moving image maker has made something
good but they aren't current flavour of the moment but perhaps an archive is
more likely to help them look after (& show) their work than a gallery or
museum - esp. if it is a moving image work. My point in my last mail about
video art at the Film Archive concerned galleries and museums not really
being very interested in this stuff prior to the mid to late 90s or so (with
the 'post-object' projects). Now that video has found its way into
galleries as art & not just as an educational resource/exhibition add-on.
But galleries and museums in NZ have never seriously tackled film as art -
unless its on video! But then film is traditionally seen as belonging in
cinemas but its when you try and do something else with it. Could this be a
similar issue with digital art that its preservation and exhibition belongs
on the web & not in museum/gallery/archive collections? In part the it
would but this relates to what I was saying above. By arranging as an
archive with a specific focus you can offer people something rather than
everything and build things into that focus that protects the archived
material from organisation collapse on whatever level.
> however, the ultimate question about archiving digital artworks must be
> answered first. That question is: is it possible to archive digital
> artworks, so that these works will be present for x number of generations.
>
> Recently I spoke with a preservator from Tate in London, and her opinion
> was there is, at present, no way of preserving digital works in any
> significant sense.
>
> The Long Now Foundation (http://www.longnow.org/) sums this up, with their
> project 'The Rosetta Disc' (http://www.rosettaproject.org/live). In a
> presentation by one of their founders (Brian Eno) he discussed his
> (their) view that in time this period of history will be considered the
> digital dark age. This is because the current maximum lifetime of digital
> storage media is about 15 years. So, if you intend to archive content then
> you better pick a better medium. In the case of the Rosetta Disk project,
> they are choosing titanium etching to preserve written language, but it
> would be difficult to find a practical medium which was as durable for
> digital media.
Yeah. i attended a talk at the National Library by a digital preservation
researcher from Britian earlier in the year (hence the sense of the
impossible in my intro to the list some months back!). He discussed the
Rosetta Project - it seems to be carrying currency amongst people grappling
with digital archiving in cultural institutions at the moment. That's the
thing - do we wait until someone or somewhere has it all sorted out or do
people just have to start being aware that retaining data on some level will
give archivists in the future a better chance of recovering it?
Over the last year I've spent time at talks and have been overwhelmed with
how focused the cultural sector is on needing to have it all worked out and
how what a huge and expensive thing it is to do. I think this is partly
because that is how these organisations already work when acquiring and
conserving material objects.
Nor does the business sector seem that concerned with helping to fund
digital archiving - snazzy exhibitions & projects maybe but data sitting on
discs with people trying to work out how to document it. I guess propriety
formats suit some businesses anyway. There was a really good article in the
New Yorker a while back about microfilming. In the 50s all these museums in
the US had their newspapers collections copied to microfilm and then they
through all the newspapers out. Now the microfilm company owns the master
copies of big runs of back issues of major US newspapers and has different
interest (or lack of) than the museums do in the newspapers. When the
museum's copy of the paper on a strip of film wears out (and shrinks or
other such inherent features of acetate safety film) the museum has to pay
the microfilm company a lot of money for new copies of newspapers they
supposedly hold in their collection. Naturally the microfilm company is not
going to give such good new customers the master negatives either for
nothing. Also the company is market focused - if there isn't much traffic
on a title then it is likely to get rationalised.
> Lastly, there is a real problem with replay tehnology which is probably
> more of importance when talking about archiving digital media in the
> context of the New Zealand Film Archive...
>
> Most linear video content that is now stored or distributed through the
> internet or through peer-to-peer technologies such as V2V, SoulSeek,
> Gnutella, KAzaaa etc have one inherent problem - they are stored in
> propriety formats such as RealMedia, WindowsMedia, Quicktime, MPEG4, DIVX
> (patent pending) etc.
>
> There are software houses that own the codecs that have encoded these
> files into these formats. These are the typical nice and friendly
> software houses like Microsoft.
>
> If you have stored your content in a format that is owned by one of these
> technology providers then archivists face really huge problems. These
> problems start with licences (eg the RealPlayer licence) that forbid the
> replaying of content encoded in RealNetworks formats in public
> institutions (I believe this clause prevented the London Science Museum
> from using RealNetworks technologies), through to my own personal
> paranoia - what happens when they outmode these technologies...can an
> archivist guarantee that the player technologies (RealPlayer/Windows MEdia
> player etc) will be available in x years time....? This last point might
> seem paraniod but already these players have stopped distributing older
> replay technologies (Quicktime for example, has stopped distributingt
> their older fractal codecs which means that if you ahve content encoded in
> this format you can no longer view it).
Yeah - you're right. This is one of the frustrations (on many levels) of
trying to get these sorts of things underway in an organisation. Whether
decisions are made by other people for other reasons or whether its
something you're doing before you realise.
>From the cusp of the Digital Dark Age,
Lissa
