Unfolding Coded Artworks

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

How do we position ourselves in relation to our digital cultural heritage when every software update threatens its very survival?

This book confronts the fragility of computer- and network-based art in an age of relentless technological obsolescence. Focusing on a seminal work by the pioneering artist duo JODI, this interdisciplinary study explores graphical user interfaces, executable files, hard-coded structures and the creative use of randomness. Through a model-assisted storytelling approach, it rethinks how programmed artworks can be remembered, analysed and reactivated once they cease to function.

A bold experiment in science communication, this volume is a must- read for scholars, practitioners and all who care about safeguarding our digital memory.