Digital
Craft
"Digital information lasts forever - or five years, whichever
comes first" (Jeff Rothenberg)
Digital discontinuity
The Digital Craft project deals with questions concerning the
collection, preservation, interpretation and exhibition of the
digital artefacts which increasingly pervade our everyday lives.
As we begin to realise today, the universality of the binary code
does not guarantee the survival of the digital products and documents,
which are being produced in ever greater numbers. These remain
dependent on physical supports, platforms and protocols, which
become obsolete within ever shorter time. In this way, the New
Media turn into Dead Media; the early history of computer and
internet culture faces the threat of being irretrievably lost
to the cultural memory. Centres for New Media such as the ZKM
in Karlsruhe (Germany) or the Ars Electronica Center in Linz (Austria)
have already started collecting selected works of media art. The
big national libraries have been addressing the question of standardised
methods of archiving digital documents for quite some time. What
seems to be missing, however, is a systematic effort to preserve
digital everyday objects such as computer games, virtual pets,
user interfaces and websites, as well as the software and hardware
necessary to run them.
What is Digital Craft?
The concept of 'digital craft' designates a new field, not yet
clearly defined, which comprises a new form of craftsmanship on
one hand and a new topic of research on the other. By providing
an international, open platform for discourses about digital applied
arts, the Digital Craft project wants to play a part in outlining
and defining this field. As a point of departure for the discussion,
we propose the following lead questions:
- What is digital craft? How can digital craft be situated
in relation to the oppositions of art vs. technology or virtual
vs. material?
- What should be collected? According to what criteria can
we decide which digital artefacts are to be counted among
the cultural heritage?
- How can digital craft be preserved? What platforms, storage
media and international open standards are available for long-term
storage?
- How can digital craft be exhibited? How can the dynamic,
interactive nature of the digital artefact be communicated
within the context of the museum?
- How can digital craft become an object of scientific study
and research?
"The applied art of the twenty-first century"
The Digital Craft project was exemplarily realised as a co-operation
between the Institute for New Media and the Museum of Applied
Arts, both located in Frankfurt am Main. Under the direction of
James Bradburne, the Museum of Applied Arts aimed at an extensive
integration of new media into the museum's activities. Besides
the collection and exhibition of digital artefacts, the digitisation
of the existing collections and the development of computer-based
educational services were emphasis of the project. The Museum
regarded this commitment as a natural extension of its function
as a museum of applied arts and as a means of distinguishing itself
as a European centre for the collection of digital artefacts.
The Institute for New Media can look back at many years of experience
in the field of new media; most of its products belong to the
field of digital craft and may themselves fit the criteria for
preservation in a museum context. The Institute undertook the
technological conception and realisation of the project. It also
developed the web presences of the Museum and the Digital Craft
project. Further tasks included the conception of a scalable database
system (which served the inventory of the collections, the educational
applications and websites), as well as the development of the
prototype for an information terminal for the Frankfurt museums. |
