At the ARLIS/NA 2018 Annual Meeting convocation and awards ceremony, Paul Chan, keynote speaker, introduced the Society to files, a sly riff on our definition of “artist files” that comments on how digital files are elemental parts of an artist’s creative output.
Badlands Unlimited, publisher of this series of digital objects, states, “A file is the work before the work. It is the ‘score’ that directs the printer, video projector, or speaker to create the expression that is experienced. And as such, artist files hold considerable value and potential in contemporary culture. They are works in their own right that illuminate the minds of some of the most compelling artists working today. “
