Essay which is going to be published on the DOCAM Proceedings, 2010

The debate around the conservation and documentation of New Media Art has been internationally developed since the middle of the Nineties. This is due to the increase of variable, ephemeral media, new technologies and other non-traditional materials used by artists in their artistic practices during the 20^th Century, and especially since the Sixties. Preserving New Media Art is a challenge for museums and contemporary art institutions which are collecting digital artworks or conceptual artworks since the early Nineties. The physical lifetime of New Media Artwork -including Digital Art, Internet Art, Multimedia Art, Software Art, Video Art, Installation Art, and in general artworks that incorporate elements of new technology- is shorter than traditional work of art. In terms of conservation, the strategies applied for painting, sculpture and drawing seem to be inappropriate for unstable or variable media, due to factors such as hardware and software decay and the obsolescence of technological devices that make it difficult to provide strategies of conservation for New Media artworks.

As a new artistic display, New Media Art has changed the perception of artistic practices since the Sixties. The new status of contemporary artwork depends upon new factors such as time, context, the relationship between the artwork, the public and the place, the "identification of functional significance",[1] but also the "cultural significance" that resides in the artist's intent.[2]

The international debate around the long”"term preservation of New Media Art has been covered mostly in America, Canada, Great Britain, Germany and The Netherlands, thanks to a network of museums and public institutions that have been investing resources, in order to manage and preserve permanent collections of contemporary art, and making them accessible in the future. In the last decades a number of projects have been focused on trying to find common strategies, protocols and theoretical guidelines for preservation and documentation of New Media Art.[3]

In Italy, although extensive knowledge on the restoration and conservation of traditional art forms has been produced over the artworks of the 20^th Century, we have to say that due to the limited participation of public institutions within the international debate it has been not a significant effort into the conservation and preservation of New Media Art is missing. Recently, a group of conservators became members of the INCCA's network, and in 2008 an Italian branch of the group was finally founded. That can be considered as a first step towards a contribution of Italian conservators into a broader debate. In order to find common solutions, protocols and practical strategies for conservation and documentation, it is fundamental to gather and compare all of the different theories developed by international art institutions and by independent critics.

The aim of museums or conservators is to document and preserve the artwork in its physical appearance, but also the artist's intent, that in contemporary practices means to comprehend the nature of the work through its historical and aesthetic significance. This is one of the most interesting points discussed by Cesare Brandi in his book "Theory of Restoration", published in 1963.[1] Although the Theory refers primarily to paintings, frescoes, sculptures, archeological pieces and other forms of 'traditional' art, some of those principles remain applicable to the preservation of today's New Media Art, or at least, they could be an interesting starting point in the process of conservation strategies. At the same time, we recognize today the need to link the Italian restoration's tradition with the international strategies developed in the last decades. One of the most interesting concepts of the Theory of Restoration regards the concept of "unità potenziale" -potential unity of the artwork- that ideally combines the aesthetical and historical significance. According to Brandi, both of these factors guarantee the originality of the artwork. In the process of conservation, this "unity'' could be achieved by balancing the historical aspects and the aesthetical ones. Brandi asserts that the final aim of any kind of restoration strategy on an artwork is the preservation, and eventually the re-composition of the original aspects. He stresses the controversial view that it is fundamental to maintain the passage of the time endured by the artwork, because it is a part of the life of the artwork.[2] In his book, Brandi affirms that "only the material of the artwork has to be restored".[3] The question is how a conservative approach, respectful of this balance, may preserve formats without physical support, something that we can define "immaterial" according to the concept of arte sine materia, by Italian art historian Gillo Dorfles. Brandi describes the material of the artwork as a structure and as appearance: while the structure serves only as support, the conceptual meaning is transmitted by the appearance. Referring to New Media Art, the hardware is the structure and the software is the appearance, even though the role of digital or electronic equipment varies from work to work.

For instance, in the Gary Hill's work, the hardware might also play a sculptural or conceptual role, that is essential to the viewer's experience and for understanding the piece. On the other side, in the digital works of Software Art by American artist John F. Simon Jr. the technological support is replaceable, because the artist might store the original code in a newer technological model. Concerning this point, the artist said: "the work is based on the writing ”" on the code ”" and when the particular hardware wears out new parts are installed. And when there are no more parts, a new kind of computer is installed. I have ported several pieces this way with great success. [”] Because the core of the pieces is a programming language text the piece itself is firstly a kind of conceptual art and later made physical".[1] According to the Variable Media Approach that analyzes the artwork through its behavior, John F. Simon Jr.'s work 'Color Panel v1.0' was one of the case studies within the experimental show "Seeing Double" at the Guggenheim Museum, in 2004.[2] As for Gary Hill, as well for John F. Simon Jr., it might be predictable that the obsolescence of the technological supports causes the loss of the work, so documenting the artist's intent may be the only way to guarantee the existence of the work into the future.[3] In the last decades conservators and curators are increasingly work with artists, defining what of the artwork should be preserved, and how. Following Brandi's Theory, the artist cannot be included in the conservation process, because through his action he might re-create the artwork, that it would mean making a "newest" interpretation. The "historical false", as Brandi defined it, deletes the time passed on the artwork between the moment of its creation and the moment of conservation. But in New Media Art contest, the things seem to change, due to the risk of obsolescence of technology that could compromise the aesthetical meaning of the artwork in the future. In this perspective, the documentation of the artist's intent and his involvement into the conservation process must be considered as the preliminary steps of the conservation strategy of New Media Art.

In the last decade, as a result of the work of INCCA, as well DOCAM and other organizations that are pointing towards a larger collaboration in the future, the Italian contribution might be functional, actively contributing to the international debate into a theoretical and philosophical perspective.