The Importance of Artifact, as Film is Found in the Snow
by Peter Kirn
Already making the rounds on the Web (as well it must, if it is to accomplish its author’s aims), a YouTube video immortalizes roll of film found against all odds in a snow bank. Upright Citizens Brigade video producer Todd Bieber, who found the roll, has turned them into a charming narrative as he looks for the film’s owner.
It’s a reminder of the importance of physical artifact in a digital age. Film by necessity has clear physical form in a single object; digital media has to exist physically somewhere, encoded in storage media, but it hardly has the same sense of definition.
I wish I had something intelligent to say, but I can only smile, especially as lately I’ve been rediscovering film myself. (If only motion/movie film were as easy to work with as still.)
But the question remains compelling: how do you bring physical objects into digital work? Should you? Do you turn to media like film, or do you find a way to make your digital work physical? (Prints, handmade wooden flash drives… even the beam of light that projects your work onto a wall, all can take on new meaning.)
Via NPR: Lost Photos Of NYC Blizzard: Found! [the picture show]