Four-byte Burger and Ephemeral Media
Art is generally created with the intent of it being around indefinitely for people to enjoy. Whether it has actual staying power, or not, is irrelevant. It is created with the intent of it being around for a while. On the other hand, “ephemeral art has in its genesis a component of transience, of fleeting object or expression in time.”
Social media has become the ultimate manifestation of ephemerality. Something is posted, it makes the rounds, and then is tossed aside. Sure, it may still be there, but it was created for a specific moment in time and, generally, loses relevance quickly.
Ahoy, a YouTube channel that covers a wide range of topics, but primarily video games, recently posted a video by Stuart Brown, about some early computer art (1986) that was created to show off the power of the new Amiga program Graphicraft.
It was created before the program had a save function, so it was always intended to be ephemeral. At least in its original digital format. It was printed in the user manual and in magazines but, as soon as the machine turned off, the original artwork was gone forever.
Stuart set out to recreate this artwork, in its original format, as faithfully as possible. It is not the same piece of artwork. It is plainly, and admittedly, a sophisticated reproduction of the original.
In any case, if you enjoy thinking philosophically about ephemeral art, or enjoy learning about computer graphics history, or just enjoy watching someone creating something just for the passion of creating, then this video is for you.