The Challenges of Preserving Digital Art

An insight from Vint Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the internet

For millennia, people have created art in media ranging from paint on cave walls to metal or stone sculpture to computer-generated images, sound and motion. In recent years, many have tried to digitize physical art in an effort to preserve it for future generations and make it accessible to a wider audience. Many contemporary artists have produced creative works using digital media, to be experienced completely online. Yet while the cave paintings in Lascaux are an incredible 20,000 years old, it isn’t clear whether digitized images of that art—or any digital art created today—will last 20 years, let alone 20,000.

That’s because digital art requires readers, and often, software in order to be viewed, heard or experienced. As software, browsers, and files either update versions or become obsolete, both digital art—art produced by means of computers and software—and digitized art—reproduced or copied art, rendered in digital form from the original physical media—are at risk of disappearing.

Contrary to common belief that “bits don’t die,” obsolescence is a real threat to digital art—and a major challenge as its use continues to increase. Just as preservationists have identified ways to extend the life of pigment, canvas and stone, solutions must be found to assure the longevity of digital works or they may prove to be even less resilient than their physical counterparts.

It’s with this in mind that Google Arts & Culture has partnered with Rhizome to help in the preservation of digital art. Rhizome grew out of the blossoming web-artist community of the mid-1990s, and is now a thriving nonprofit in New York City. They’ve developed unique tools which preserve digital artworks and allow them to be viewed long after their complex, software foundations have become obsolete.