Reconstruction of new media artworks: a theoretical model and two pilot studies

The technological aspect of new media art presents a complex issue for museums or artists wishing to preserve new media artworks for an extended period of time. Additionally, new media art typically exists at a fragile threshold of potentiality: through imagination and the implementation of new technical solutions, it reflects societal changes by shaping emerging communication models. This paper addresses various challenges in reconstructing and preserving new media artworks and describes several theoretical and practical approaches successfully implemented in Slovenia. Our theoretical framework highlights three parameters that define a new media object: 1) the interfaces-database relation, 2) single-user game-like interaction vs. digital community platform, and 3) machine-based creativity. These parameters can be employed to assess whether and how the original and reconstructed projects retain their fundamental characteristics, and if these changes align with the repercussions of technological mediation in society as well. The paper presents two pilot studies on the reconstruction of new media artworks that were nonfunctional in 2022: from 2000, Nation – Culture by Vuk Ćosić, and from 2005, Matrix Coincidence Dating Club by Srečo Dragan.