From the artwork to the “demo” artwork. Case Study on the conservation and degradation of new media artworks

Resumo

This paper describes the study case of the conservation of a new media artwork, Cannula, by Daniel Canogar (2016). This artwork combines and distorts videos downloaded from YouTube in order to create an oil-like live painting. Main new media conservation strategies are first introduced and discussed. Following, “re-creation” is presented as the best option to deal with the conservation of the elements that compose the artwork, such as its hardware –display, computer- and its software –custom made applications that combine and distort videos-. This paper focuses on a key element to the artwork that cannot be conserved by any of the exposed means: the Internet. YouTube is used to provide the videos to be used. If the service is not reachable –the connection is lost or YouTube is no longer available- the artwork will cease to exist as the artists conceived it. Storing in the memory of the computer the contents previously used provide a mean to re-use them if needed. In that case, the artwork will no longer be such –according to the artists, the live connection to the Internet defines the artwork- but a “demonstration”. A self-documentation state defined as “demo”, which, according to the authors, represents the closest possible experience to the original artwork.