Gaby WIJERS

Director, documentation and digital preservation specialist
LIMA, Amsterdam (NL)

BIO

Gaby Wijers has been the director of LIMA since 1/1/2013. Previously, she was the coordinator of collection, preservation and related research at the Netherlands Media Art Institute (NIMk), Amsterdam (NL). She has a background in librarianship, theatre and informatics. She participated in various national and international projects dealing with the documentation and preservation of media art (e.g.  Inside Installations, 404 object not found, GAMA, Inside Movement Knowledge, Obsolete Equipment, Digitising Contemporary Art). She participates in networks such as the Foundation for the Preservation of Contemporary Art and GAMA.

ABSTRACT

A Collective Approach on Archiving and Preserving Digital Art

Digital art or media art, live art and performances are different than other art genres in that they are dependent upon the practices -not the objects- and upon the performative role of the spectator, which is experienced through media, browsers, networks, documentation and storage media. The ephemerality and immateriality of much of these time-based works are demanding the configuration of a new set of techniques to ensure their future transmission. Most of today’s digital works of art are process-based, ephemeral, interactive, multimedia, and are fundamentally context-dependent. Conservation questions are centred in technical responses to a rapid technological obsolescence, the deterioration of materials or the varied installation requirements. LIMA offers a digital art repository and host for collections and artists, a variety of preservation tools and services and is an initiator of many (research) projects in the field.
The field of Time Based Arts conservation is as hybrid and diverse as its art form and its community. How to create an open knowledge exchange and cross the boundaries of museums, collectors, media archaeology labs, universities, academies, artist driven initiatives and large heritage institutions programs. How to engage a larger community.