Cornell University selects artwork for its permanent collection

 

After attracting international attention in the media arts world, folly is delighted to announce that the artwork “f.wish” by boredomresearch has been chosen for a prestigious US-based collection of online digital art. “f.wish”, an online wishing tree, was commissioned in the autumn by North West England media arts organisation folly.

In contrast to traditional art collections, the nature of online art archiving means that the piece will also be continuously available around the world, safely archived on Cornell University’s New York servers in perpetuity.  

Furthermore, the curators will ensure that that no matter what changes in technology take place in the future, the work will always be accessible in some way.

The computerfineartscollection, where the piece is held, is archived by Cornell University Library as part of their The Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art.The project is sponsored by Cornell’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections and the wishing tree will be preserved alongside some of the most important media artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as ancient clay cuneiform tablets, the letters of James Joyce, and hand-written manuscripts by W.A. Mozart.

folly’s Creative Director Kathryn Lambert said “folly are really excited about boredomresearch’s success as we are committed to supporting and raising the profile of artists who work with technology and exploring ways in which to address the gap in archiving of new media art work.” 

boredomresearch said "It’s been fun to watch folly's wishing tree bloom with the many desires that have been submitted, and we look forward to watching the second tree come to life on computerfinearts.com" 

 “f.wish” has received over 20,000 contributions since its launch last autumn, with people investing their private wishes on the wishing tree with everything from “I wish for pink elephants” to “I wish I could find lasting true love”.

 The curator who chose “f.wish” to become a part of the collection, Doron Golan, is an Israeli-born artist who has been collecting net art for many years. The artists in the collection range from early pioneers to young contemporaries, including work by John F Simon, Golan Levin, Jonah Brucker-Cohen and Thomson & Craighead.

You can view the original “f.wish” wishing tree and make your own wish at www.folly.co.uk/wish