Ernst & Kirschenbaum: Reading Commentary
Wolfgang Ernst: Digital Memory and the Archive
Ernst has a perspective in media archaeology that emphasizes “microtemporality”, which is a term he uses to describe how technical memory is a constant, active process, rather than a stable and permanent object. I appreciate that he provides a reverse method of examining media archaeology, where he considers the object itself that creates the archive and how it impacts the archive or “memory”.
Matthew Kirschenbaum: The .txtual Condition
This work addresses, and also references, the concept of a fluid archive that Ernst introduces in his work. Kirschenbaum makes a point that in today’s world, the difference between preservation of a digital object and its creation has become quite blurred due to the accessibility of immediately created digital objects.