The most interesting passage in this article for me was the following: “One has to constantly convert information in order to work with it across different platforms and softwares and on the way it is reformatted, translated, compressed or sometimes even blown up, it is enhanced or diminished: it changes.” I have always been fascinated by the way files are unintentionally transformed when being transferred or converted. In my own experience with digital media, I have always had to deal with audio files losing some of their quality when they are downloaded. For example, a youtube to mp3 converter will always render a slightly sub-par mp3 file–the sound is generally flattened in the conversion process, and many of the frequencies in the original recording are simply lost. Many recording artists however have embraced this process. Nicolas Jaar creates experimental music that takes advantage of the phenomenons observed in digital transfer and processing. Jaar uses what others would see as an undesirable side-effect of digital media to randomize his work with captivating results.
I am fascinated by this new way of thinking about the digital footprints left on artwork through online distribution and sharing. The future of this path of exploration in art is very exciting, and I believe that it will be a dominant theme in artwork of all kinds in years to come. The idea that a work of art is reborn every time it is downloaded and that each individual download is unique opens up many possibilities for conversations about copyright, originality, ontology, and digital distribution.