Evaluation of preservation strategies for an interactive, software-based artwork with complex behavior using the case study Horizons (2008) by Geert Mul

In order to preserve software-based art the research community has primarily focused on emulation as a preservation strategy. The University of Freiburg (D) established emulation as a service for memory institutions and research data archiving - a service that is currently used for preserving software-based art. Software mi- gration, which might provide an alternative solution, has been researched for business applications, however less for software- based art. As a very immediate strategy it does not introduce an additional layer of translation and thus does not slow down the performance. This paper investigates to what extent the existing migration options are useful for preserving software-based art and how they compare to the emulation options currently used. What long-term impact do migration and emulation have on a software- based artwork? What maintenance works do they cause? What changes do they induce in the artwork?
The impact of migration and emulation as preservation strategies for software-based art is evaluated on the basis of a case study: the software-based artwork Horizons (2008) by Dutch artists Geert Mul. This case study shows that it was necessary to migrate Horizons first before it could be virtualised with sufficient graphics rendering performance. Hence, this paper concludes, that the combination of migration and emulation can be a good solution for graphics intensive works in the mid-term. It is a step in between short-term solutions like migration and long-term solutions like a full-system emulation; the latter only being possible when the speed advantage of the new hardware is large enough.
In order to preserve software-based art the research community has primarily focused on emulation as a preservation strategy. The University of Freiburg (D) established emulation as a service for memory institutions and research data archiving - a service that is currently used for preserving software-based art. Software mi- gration, which might provide an alternative solution, has been researched for business applications, however less for software- based art. As a very immediate strategy it does not introduce an additional layer of translation and thus does not slow down the performance. This paper investigates to what extent the existing migration options are useful for preserving software-based art and how they compare to the emulation options currently used. What long-term impact do migration and emulation have on a software- based artwork? What maintenance works do they cause? What changes do they induce in the artwork?
The impact of migration and emulation as preservation strategies for software-based art is evaluated on the basis of a case study: the software-based artwork Horizons (2008) by Dutch artists Geert Mul. This case study shows that it was necessary to migrate Horizons first before it could be virtualised with sufficient graphics rendering performance. Hence, this paper concludes, that the combination of migration and emulation can be a good solution for graphics intensive works in the mid-term. It is a step in between short-term solutions like migration and long-term solutions like a full-system emulation; the latter only being possible when the speed advantage of the new hardware is large enough.