[spectre] cd-rom hackathon

[annet dekker]

TOOLS SERIES: CD-ROM Hackathon
by Ben Fino-Radin (US)

Wednesday 12 & Thursday 13 December 2012
Times: 11:00 – 17:00
Location: Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
Admission: 15,00 euro for two days, including lunch/coffee/tea.


This hands-on workshop will present attendees with strategies for 
capturing and preserving the
contents of CD-ROMs, and offer the skills and knowledge necessary for 
emulating obsolete hardware
and operating systems in order to run, document, and interact with these 
materials.

The CD-ROM is a medium that occupies a particularly unique moment in the 
history of technology
and artistic production. In the mid-90’s – the world wide web as a 
platform was not yet capable of
providing the rich, immersive, multimedia experience that artists 
desired. Simultaneously, this period
witnessed the proliferation of personal computers that came equipped 
with CD-r drives, causing CD-
ROM art to flourish as a form of creation and distribution. Artists 
created very diverse works, ranging
from virtual spaces to game-like experiments, interactive music 
environments to literature and
hypertext presentations. Within an individual practice CD-ROMs often 
have a very special place:
sometimes they are a unique interactive ‘exception’ in the career of the 
artist (Laurie Anderson,
Michael Snow), other times they are part of a long series of works in 
different media (JODI, Antoni
Muntadas).

These works face significant threats in terms of longevity and permanent 
access. The CD medium
itself, especially artist-produced CD-Rs, is unstable, often not 
standing the test of time. Furthermore,
the medium as a physical carrier is in the early stages of obsolescence 
– in the near future, more and
more personal computers do not come equipped with optical media drives. 
Finally, the software
contained on the media is often completely obsolete and will not 
function on contemporary operating
systems.

About Ben Fino-Radin:
Ben Fino-Radin is a New York-based archivist, researcher, media 
archeologist. As Digital
Conservator for Rhizome at the New Museum, he leads the preservation and 
curation of the ArtBase,
one of the oldest and most comprehensive collections of born-digital 
works of art. In addition to his
role at Rhizome, Fino-Radin recently led a digital preservation effort 
at the Whitney Museum of
American Art, and has served in an advisory capacity to the Museum of 
Modern Art, and the Museum
of the Moving Image. His writing has appeared on The Creators Project, 
the forthcoming volume of
Electronic Media Review, as well as a forthcoming Digital Art reader 
edited by Christiane Paul.


BE PART OF HISTORY IN THE MAKING!

Attendees should come equipped with a Macintosh, Linux, or Windows 
laptop with at least a 2Ghz
processor, 2Gb of RAM, and 10Gb free hard drive space. Software will be 
provided.

Places are limited, send a short motivation of max 300 words before 22 
November to carmin at baltanlaboratories.org to ensure your placement!


This workshop is part of the working-conference "Collecting and 
Presenting Born-Digital Art. A matter of translation and (historical) 
knowledge" organised by Baltan Laboratories and Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.
More information: http://www.baltanlaboratories.org/borndigital/