Blurriness in Media Art Archiving Where Theory Encounters Practice, the Archive of Digital Art (ADA)
by Alexander Wöran, Laura Ettel, and Isabella Iskra
Abstract:
Due to its border-transgressing, fast-paced nature, and recalcitrance for clear-cut characterizations, media art has occupied the minds of art researchers, theorists, and archivists for many years. Today, particularly regarding questions of its documentation, there is a multitude of positions, approaches, and concepts produced in different contexts—academic, institutional, or from within the art scene itself. Of course, this vivid discourse signals the importance of the art form. Nevertheless, one could wonder if this circumstance adds to the field’s elusiveness and how it affects the hands-on activity of archiving. Based on our work with the online platform Archive of Digital Art (ADA), we want to share our practical experiences of media art archiving in the digital realm and interweave it with some theoretical considerations. Is there any space for blurriness? And if so, is it a daunting or a productive trait? Naturally, we are advocating for the latter… but it could also be a matter of perspective.
Keywords: archives; media art; digital humanities; digital archiving; archive theory; media art theory; image analysis
How to cite:
MLA (9th edition):
Wöran, Alexander, Laura Ettel, and Isabella Iskra. “Blurriness in Media Art Archiving: Where Theory Encounters Practice, the Archive of Digital Art (ADA).” MAST, vol. 4, no. 1, Apr. 2023, pp. 136–158.
APA (7th edition):
Wöran, A., Ettel, L., & Iskra, I. (2023). Blurriness in media art archiving: Where theory encounters practice, the Archive of Digital Art (ADA). MAST, 4(1), 136–158.
Chicago (17th edition):
Wöran, Alexander, Laura Ettel, and Isabella Iskra. “Blurriness in Media Art Archiving: Where Theory Encounters Practice, the Archive of Digital Art (ADA).” MAST 4, no. 1 (April 2023): 136–158.
Licensing:
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Copyright:
Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions and may reuse/republish their article as part of a book or other materials, providing acknowledgment is given to MAST as the original source and place of publication. Authors can also post a copy of their accepted/published article on their websites and on their Institutional repository, citing that the article was originally published in MAST.
© 2023 Alexander Wöran, Laura Ettel, and Isabella Iskra
Issue: vol. 4 no. 1 (2023): Special Issue: Blurring Digital Media Culture
Section: Article
Guest Editors: Tony D. Sampson and Jernej Markelj
Authors: Alexander Wöran, Laura Ettel, Isabella Iskra
Submitted: Aug 20, 2022
Accepted: Feb 1st, 2023
Published: 26 April, 2023