Inter-Facing the Archive

The exhibition »Inter-Facing the Archive« is Monika Fleischmann’s and Wolfgang Strauss’s artistic and scientific contribution to the Digital Archive. Using the example of the media-art platform netzspannung.org, »Knowledge Discovery Tools« are presented which develop the Digital Media Art Archive by way of semantic knowledge maps and audio-visual data-streams.

“Netzspannung.org and its groundbreaking interfaces create cognitive and data structures. What has been created here is a model for an international educational infrastructure that deserves imitation.” (Peter Weibel)

In most cases, that which has been concealed in digital archives is represented in lists and other index-card-like digital archives. As much as this form may be expedient for scientists, it has far less inspiring effects through the Internet, and on exhibition visitors.

Netzspannung.org has been online since 2001, and offers multiple accesses to valuable sources of knowledge. One interface here comprises the rubric »Tele-Lectures« by scientists and artists. Up to 150.000 international visitors access over 200 hours of Tele-Lectures and experimental study and teaching modules per month. Over 2.500 descriptions of works, texts, pictures and videos drawn from art design, music and computer science are available in the area »Archives«, and the e-Teaching platform. With current affairs, the rubric »Media Art Research« shows, among others, the extent to which artistic work is a research activity.

At the same time, Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss develop not only new processes of data acquisition, but also scenographically orchestrate the archive for the exhibition space. Thus, the »Media-stream Browser« transforms the passive archive into an interactive flow of information containing pictures and texts. The »Semantic Map« facilitates a visual navigation, and, with the aid of the semantic map, makes possible an individual discovery of interrelations and connections.

In his publication »100 Products of the Future«, physicist and Nobel Laureate Theodor W. Hänsch counts the “Semantic Map” among the pioneering ideas destined to transform our lives.