Focusing on the preservation and sustainability of digital art for artists, galleries, and museums, our conversations delved into the current challenges faced by practitioners with emerging technologies, the centralization of tools and software used. Traditional and innovative perservation methodologies have been shared and discussed.
We questioned ourselves: what does it mean to create sustainable artwork? It is about the way you made it, and the clean solution used, or the impact it is going to have. While more and more artists are using AI or cloud-server-dependent technologies, how do you mitigate your environmental impact and still talk nudge for a sustainable future?
We also discussed solutions like permacomputing, solar-powered servers or computers, as well as networks of care some different people could take care; of the preservation of artworks on their own computers, through a private server, etc. I mentioned the Transfer Data Trust solution by Kelani Nichole and Regina Harsanyi as a solution to decentralize care.
Of course, the environmental impact of blockchain has been discussed. First by understanding the difference between all blockchains, from those that are consuming the same amount of energy as a country like Poland and those which are climate neutral or even climate positive. We reminded them what it means to buy an "NFT" that is just the proof of a transaction while most "NFT" are actually just digital artworks being collected off-chain.
We ended the discussion challenging the future of an artwork, and considering its short lifespan being part of being understood and accepted from the start. Kim Kraczon is currently researching this inspiring topic!
Thanks Berlin Art Week for starting to organize climate + art talks!