CD-ROM Art Archive
Thu, 17 Apr 2014
I have been informally acquiring examples of 1990s CD-ROM artworks for a number of years now (with 50+ items now collected) and have decided to start properly documenting the collection and filling any gaps. At some point I would like to make the archive available for other people to use for research purposes. Perhaps locating it at Interact Labs at Phoenix in Leicester.
The sorts of things I have been collecting are not only classic 'artist' CD-ROMs, but also good examples of early interactive experiences and interactive content. For example, the archive currently includes titles as varied as Peter Gabriel's 'Eve', the game 'Myst', Hexstatic's early CD-i titles, 'Scrutiny in the Great Round' (pictured) and Nobuhiro Shibayama's 'Biomorph Encyclopedia'.
This is a bit of a long-term project, but I think - together will initiatives elsewhere - it will help to ensure that the innovative interactive art that was released on CD-ROM the 1990s gets properly recorded. Ironically, despite being digital, much of it will no longer play on modern computers and risks being lost over time.
If you are interested in donating any 1990s/early-2000s CD-ROMs to the collection please get in touch. These could be examples of your own work, or CD-ROMs that you may have collected yourself but perhaps are unable to run any more? You can contact me by email on seanc@cuttlefish.com.
I will acknowledge the source of all donations within the archive and on the website that will one day appear.
