Hi,
I am posting info on this transmediale 2012 workshop here on the list as
I think that it is especially suitable for people involved in curating
and archiving of new media. There is a very limited amount of places, so
if you are visiting the transmediale next week, sign up now if you want
to take part!

Hope to see you in any case at the in/compatible festival!
/Kristoffer Gansing, artistic director, transmediale.
www.transmediale.de/tm2k+12
------------------------------------------------------------

Workshop: <collaborative documenting / archiving of net.art.activities>
With Constant Dullaart and Robert Sakrowski

Early internet based artworks are disappearing rapidly and en masse, due
to various reasons such as technical problems, software updates, and
server costs (to name a few).
 
These conceptual, technical and performative works will be lost for
future generations, without the research and contextualization many of
these works deserve as some of the most interesting and significant
artistic productions of these times. As a response to the very precise
and therefor slow developments in the field of digital art archiving and
preservation, the artist based initiative for documenting and archiving
net.artdatabase by Constant Dullaart and Robert Sakrowski has been
getting attention from collectors, artists and institutions world wide.
Their approach of subjective documenting, and straightforward collecting
of meta data is aimed at the participation and exchange of the collected
documentation by all parties interested in preservation of internet
based artworks.
 
The online art works subject to this documentation and archiving project
are very often (meant to be) enjoyed in a private situation, in the
space of a viewer and their personal computer. These works barely have
an existence for more than a decade, and are in function from the moment
the artist initiates the possibility of the online experience, until
possible technical failure. The hardware that the viewer uses to enjoy
the art work, and the social circumstances on the internet are two
things that (next to all the programming issues) prove incredibly
difficult to archive. Comparing contemporary online art works to
performance art, as many artists do, makes it even more impossible to
save the work in its entirety for future research. Although the
discussion around documenting and re-enacting performance based art
works is extremely valid at this point in time, this project decides to
archive through documenting. Documenting not only the work as it is
consumed (by way of screen-capture), but also the environment in which
this is done, by way of a video recording. These video's will be played
in sync, to show not only the work in the way it was viewed, but also
how it was viewed.
 
In this workshop we will document art works of your preference, but we
will also have a list of works, recent, and not so recent, for you to
look at and enjoy. We will work in groups of two, where we will first
prepare the meta data, and select the work to document. After this we
will record, edit and upload the material. 
Can this method of preservation stimulate the exhibiting of internet
based artworks, offline or online? Will it stimulate the exchange of
documentation, meta data and research? And will it get the viewers of
the artworks to document their experiences? All these questions and more
can be discussed with the initiators of this project. And your
experience will be documented and archived.
 
Maximum number of participants: 10
Workshop language: German/English
Location: transmediale archive, Podewil, Klosterstr. 68, room nr. 239,
U-Klosterstraße (U2)
 
Conditions:
⁃ requires a valid pass for the day of the workshop (Daypass,
Festivalpass, Kombipass, or Accreditation)
⁃ A computer with wifi and screen-capture software as well as a mobile
phone with a camera for the video recording.
- Please consider to select some online art works or other online
creations you would like to document for future research.

Workshop Registration:
http://www.transmediale.de/content/transmediale-2012-workshops