Collecting Digital Art

True art collectors breathe through their eyes and are in constant dialogue with art. What they buy has quality. The recognition of quality succeeds through the comparison. This in turn requires knowledge and experience.

But how do connoisseurs judge art that breaks completely new ground and eludes comparability? If we look back at the modern age, many masterpieces were recognized much later due to their novelty. The secret is: intuition.

In the 21st century, new technologies are no longer a passive tool in artistic practice. Art created by the computer has been around since the 1960s. Nevertheless it is a numerically small group of collectors who are facing the challenges of this new art.

One reason is that digital art defies a clear formal classification, mostly these works combine different elements (such as a physical installation with an interactive sound and software component). The forms of expression include installations, films, videos or animations, internet art, networked art or software art, virtual art, augmented reality or robotic. The digital topics such as activism, hactivism, AI, telerobotics, data visualization, public interactives, social media or the web are even more complex.

A good start are historical plotter drawings by Frider Nake, Vera Molnar, Manfred Mohr or Georg Nees. They belong in every digital art collection and are easy to purchase. It is different with software art such as by Manfred Mohr, Casey Reas, Jon Rafman or Cory Arcangel. These are digital files that work on screens or projected onto the wall. It is good advice to buy these works including all hardware (monitor, media player, projector, etc.). It is not uncommon for a collector to only receive the file in the form of a USB stick, which can quickly lead to frustration. It is also important to have a certificate of authenticity, which contains precise information on the installation and hardware.

Very attractive is the acquisition of websites from e.g. Olia Lialina, Rafa?l Rozendaal or Mark Napier, as these code-based algorithms are available everywhere: on smartphones, on screens or billboards. A domain is mostly also the title of the work.

The domain is unique, the source code contains all information about the work such as artist name, title, year and programmer. In contrast to object-based works and analogous to video art, the collector acquires intellectual property. What the art market lacks to date are legally binding agreements in the form of standard contracts that define exhibition, reproduction and resale rights, public communication rights and property issues.

Augumented Reality is used through apps in the form of virtual representations in space and in combination with objects. The work “layer-template-sandsack-3D-1-1” by STATION ROSE is an interactive augmented reality video painting, that transfers the analog painting on the wall to an amazing sound moving image through the smartphone or tablet.

VR works of art are not the future either, they are already popular collectibles. Paul McCarthy, Bianca Kennedy, Winslow Porter and Marina Abramovic regularly create VR works that can be purchased on the art market. The glasses, the technology of which is constantly being developed, are important for the VR experience, as well as the skillful implementation so that the work does not cause discomfort or lead to so-called motion sikness.

Artists today find themselves in an era where artistic ideas are combined with cutting edge technologies such as 3D printing, virtual reality, AI, biotechnology and blockchain. Collecting their work means being part of the story and taking on the challenges mentioned.

Today's media art is the art that many generations after us will talk about!

You can find the German version of this text published at Kunstmagazin PARNASS (SPECIAL AUCTIONS and fine arts, Special 2020, Autumn)