Shanti Escalante-De Mattei launches a new column called "Link Rot" in ARTnews, exploring the intersection of art, technology, and the internet. The first edition focuses on the fragility of digital and new media art, which faces rapid obsolescence as hardware and software evolve. New media art dealer Kelani Nichole, founder of Transfer Art Gallery (2013), has launched the Transfer Data Trust, a data cooperative designed to preserve digital artworks for up to 100 years. The Trust uses a combination of network-attached storage, decentralized file storage (IPFS, Filecoin), and a user-friendly browser to archive artist intent and conservation data, with pooled sales proceeds funding conservation efforts.
This matters because the art world has long struggled to integrate new media art into its market and institutions due to its lack of physical permanence. Nichole's model offers a potential solution that could make collectors and museums more confident in acquiring digital works, addressing a critical gap in art preservation. The column also critiques NFTs as "glorified receipts" that fail to solve the underlying problem of digital decay, positioning the Data Trust as a more robust alternative for ensuring the longevity of mutable art objects.