Institution name: Rhizome at the New Museum

Contact person: Dragan Espenschied

Address: 235 Bowery, New York, New York, 10002

Email: dragan.espenschied@rhizome.org

URL: https://rhizome.org/

Brief description of internship: Screenshots are an vital for representation and dissemination of items in Rhizome's digital art collections and in general in the field of internet art. These low-resolution images rely on exact pixel-by-pixel reproduction, which in many cases is out of Rhizome’s control. Image degradation is a growing problem. Most existing software tools, including image viewers, content management systems, and web browsers are optimized to handle lens-based captures, and are applying unwanted scaling, interpolation and blur to screenshots in an attempt to adapt them for the current landscape of High Dots Per Inch (hidpi) displays (i.e. “retina”, “4k”).

Rhizome seeks an intern to be a key part of the solution to these challenges.

Rhizome aims to create, collect and catalog accurate low-resolution screenshots of artworks in its collection, which will be at a later stage photographed when being displayed on monitors contemporaneous to the artwork.

The VRAF intern would be involved in the following first steps in addressing this challenge:

1. Reviewing existing screenshots/images for accuracy and quality


2. Taking screenshots/images of digital artworks using emulation environments that fit the artwork and/or through use of obsolete software, operating systems and/or web browsers


3. Enrich new screenshots with metadata and catalog these images

Following the intern’s work the following steps will be taken:

1. Fitting hardware, such as displays, computers, input devices, will be set up


2. The screenshots prepared by the intern will be placed on displays and photographed


3. New photographs will then be annotated with metadata and cataloged

Through this opportunity to work with born digital museum collection materials, the intern will gain experience with:

• Tools that were used to create or experience the artworks including: obsolete software, operating systems and web browsers as well as contemporary software emulators


• Imaging techniques and applicable data standards


• Description and metadata related to digital art and screenshots

This internship of 200 hours will take place at Rhizome’s offices in New York, NY.