"Museums are conservative institutions."
Artist Mark Napier says new media art is definitely like a performance because "software is like that, something you basically perform on your machine."
- In their commissioning of new media art, museums have looked to several familiar ways of categorizing art: 1) an original, unique work of art, 2) an edition, or 3) a performance. The adoption of one of these three models indicates varying interpretations of what the art is and the approach to commissioning.
1) If a museum thinks about new media art as an original work, it is approached as a single, finite work that is not to be replic ated. Therefore, it has a sole owner and venue, and a single iteration.
2) If a museum thinks of new media art as an edition, it is viewed similar to photography, prints, and film and video. Generally, there is a limited number of works made by the artist, and each is nearly identical.
3) The third model views new media like a live performance. It is ephemeral, exists as an experience in time which vanishes after completion, unless recorded for posterity. Whitney curator Christiane Paul says new media art is like performance because "the artwork has been transformed into a structure that relies on a constant flux of information and engages the viewer/collaborator the way a performance might."
Artist Mark Napier says new media art is definitely like a performance because "software is like that, something you basically perform on your machine."