Preserving Born Digital Art: Lessons From Artists’ Practice

Abstract

This article looks at the complex nature of developing effective and appropriate strategies for the preservation of born digital art, in particular networked art. These issues are approached from the perspective of artist practitioners as it is suggested that any preservation strategy begins with artists, with the conservation practices that are inculcated into the very act of creation. This article proposes that this necessitates institutional digital art conservation initiatives originating from a pre-existing culture of preservation within digital art communities. Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/rinn