Open Source in Art Originality Art Process and

Open Source in Art: Originality, Art Process and Digital Preservation BORIS ČUČKOVIĆ HRVOJE STANČIĆ DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SCIENCES FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB BORIS. CUCKOVIC@GMAIL. COM, HRVOJE. STANCIC@ZG. T-COM. HR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE INFUTURE 2009: “DIGITAL RESOURCES AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING”

Contents Introduction Open Source Artwork Art Tendencies in Open Source Environment New Challenges of Communicating and Preserving Digital Art Conclusion Discussion

Introduction – the Material

Introduction – Open Source Art entering the digital era Open source as a principle dictates complete access to software source code Implementing open source free usage of tools necessary for digital artistic production Public colaboration Resulting work available for free

Introduction – Open Source Implementation Art which uses digital technologies as a tool Open source modifying artwork production Art which uses digital technology as a medium Open source radically changing some of the basic categories of artwork, such as autorship and originality Two levels of influence > Elephants Dream animated movie New approach to digital art classification?

Open Source Artwork What does the open source approach to artwork mean for the observer (visitor, viewer)? observer – author relation Elephants Dream > observer creating a new original Glyphiti project > observer intervening in the same original made by the initiating author

Open Source Artwork Glyphiti – Andy Deck, started in 2001. Insert from June 2008. Instead of looking at an image – watching a live image “…if you don’t like the options given to you, please revise the source code. Copy it. Steal it. Share it. Print it. Pretend it’s yours. I don’t care”

Open Source Artwork – Roles and Actions Passive) observers (Passive) Active observers / users Image Rules of intervening ct oje pr e c r u So code ce ur so en Op Coauthors Initiator(s)

Open Source Artwork Example A scene from Elephants Dream animated movie, 2006. It showed that Blender and other open source tools can match visual quality with the commercial solutions in the field of 3 D animation.

Art Tendencies in Open Source Environment During the twentieth century artwork has in many different ways transformed into an art process Performance or happening – immanent temporal dimension Jean Tinguely – limited time duration of sculptures Homage to New York (1960. ) Study for an End of the World No. 2 (1962. )

Art Tendencies in Open Source Environment Because of the open source availability the image is subject to constant modifications Theoretically, the open source art process available on the internet does not have to end Process is not dependent upon the natural limitations of the author, performer or observer Form that changes context independent of the actions of the original author? The elements of a digital artwork that are originally used in creation of one artwork, or even a whole artwork itself, can be found in another artwork of a completely different character

Art Tendencies in Open Source Environment Open source art process can outlive a period of certain style domination From a historical view, a unique artwork could span across several different periods A public work can also be used in a work of commercial or private function, if the license allows it Commercial artists contributing the open source movement – Joshua Davis

Art Tendencies in Open Source Environment The strength of the open source idea has also affected the content of artworks Narrative specifics and open ending of “Elephants Dream” Open source concept by itself is politically and economically provocative Contemporary art is often occupied by these topics Carnivore. PE project by Alex Galloway and the RSG group instead of collecting information about suspects, Carnivore. PE is transforming electronic information into vibrant images and sound, generating art instead of incriminating evidence

New Challenges of Communicating and Preserving Digital Art From white cube model to a wired cube approach Specifics of open source art have to be considered when dealing with questions of its preservation and communication in a museological sense Communication outside institutional channels Open source blurring the boundry between authors and curators Institutions solving problems of digital art conservation – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

New Challenges of Communicating and Preserving Digital Art Open source art process is endangered by outdating of software and hardware environment it is made on Four methods of solving this problem: Documentation (screen captures, artist diagrams, installation in structions and statements) Migration (updating work to accommodate newer technology and file formats) Emulation (running projects through additional software that allows them to work on newer hardware) Recreation (remaking the artwork for a new technical environment)

New Challenges of Communicating and Preserving Digital Art For open source art communication between authors collaborating on the development of an idea is equally important as the communication between the author, his work and the observer Code should have a modular structure – easily read and applied Code should not be procedural, but object oriented The main principle of preserving the original open source art process should contain the requirement of preserving the availability of its code to the public so it can continue to live on that level OSMOSA – an open source museum of open source art

Conclusion Open source art has included public into the act of creation more than it was the case ever in the history of art The redefined term of the original not only does not stream towards uniqueness (as is the case with the rest of digital art), but also invokes and provokes multiplications and its own usage in realization of other visions and ideas The prerequisites have been set for creation of a public work of art that is formed by public itself – an art made by man himself, not just one man