ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to introduce an epistemological reflection on the concept of “digital archiving” applied to media art. If the latter appears for many reasons to constitute something “transient and un-archivable” (Ernst, 2004 and 2010), it is because it presents itself ontologically in an exponentially complex form. In other words, the aim is to underline the problems (theoretical and methodological) that media art poses to digital archiving. In order to keep media artworks accessible to contemporary and future users, their inclusion in digital archives is desirable. Digital archives can support the fundamental function of the cultural conservation of these works – understood as a process that not only documents and preserves the technological and material dimensions of these complex works, but also the cultural contexts in which they emerged and were seen. However, this is by no means a neutral process – as will become clear, the digital archiving of complex media artworks has a profound influence on their appearance and interpretation. Therefore, this chapter carefully investigates the epistemological implications of the digital archiving of media art.
