[iDC] what is being put on the shelf

[saul ostrow]

In the hope of bringing some clarity to this issue of shelf life  
might we not want to differentiate between media as a tool,  a mode  
of production, or a means of delivery and  then ask what is being  
preserved - content, form - effect, or form - material object
In most cases sound/light can be transcribed - if it is deemed worthy  
of preserving
objects if cared for tend to last for considerable periods of time
history as a material condition is another form of preservation -  
which till now has required talismans  and mnemonic  devices as a  
means to maintain a record of necessity - if Benjamin and Baudrillard  
among others are right the age of the material fetish has given way  
to that of information storage, signifiers without a fixed signified  
and simulacra  of  the real - that within a world defined by a  
universal media ( Kittler) a things representation may replace the  
thing and as such always in some format always already be available -  
consequently, is this thread about longevity or merely bringing the  
new into line with the present and as such fettering its development  
by having it fulfill past rather than future demands


> saul ostrow


Chair, Visual Arts and Technologies
Interim Head, Sculpture and Installation

sostrow at gate.cia.edu

EXPECT EVERYTHING / FEAR NOTHING



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