Philosophy Wire: Art lost in code…

Software- and computer-based works of art are fragile - not unlike their canvas counterparts - as their underlying technologies such as operating systems and programming languages change rapidly, placing these works at risk. Just as conservators have developed methods to protect traditional artworks, computer scientists, in collaboration with time-based media conservators, have created means to safeguard computer- or time-based art by following the same preservation principles. [1] Trying to restore art. But art is not meant to last. Everything beautiful dies. And, because of this, it lives forever. Inside the dark paths of the modern Internet, between the millions of lines of code in C# and Java, beyond the powerful processors of today and past the ultra-fast quantum computers, watch closely and you’ll still hear the grudging sound of a Commodore 128 drive trying to load Mission Impossible. No, you will probably never play that game again (at least not in an original Commodore). But you will remember it until you die. You were a small child then. You only stayed a while. You stayed for ever…

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