The living

Work in progress

Introduction

This page presents the performance-based net artwork The_Living (1997-1998) by artist Debra Solomon. In 2019, The_Living was included in LI-MA’s Digital Canon project as part of twenty works that had lasting influence on digital art and culture in the Netherlands. In 2022, LI-MA carried out the research and conservation of The_Living under the framework "Infrastructuur Duurzame Toegankelijkheid Digital Kunst" and the Digital Care project. The preservation team received the personal archive of Debra Solomon in Fall 2022, followed by an interview with the artist in early 2023. Rather than re-enacting the work in the original set-up, the artist and the preservation team agreed that activating the work with a critical reflection of its conceptual aspects is a better way of preserving the memory and legacy of The_living. The web presentation contributes to this goal of critical research and reflection on the work, with publishing as a preservation strategy. The structure of this web presentation follows the model of another case study researched by LI-MA Naked on Pluto (2010-2013, Marloes de Valk, Aymeric Mansoux, Dave Griffiths). This web presentation is written by Haitian Ma, with input from Gaby Wijers, Joost Dofferhoff, Claudia Roeck, Olivia Brum, and the artist Debra Solomon.