In Le Catalogue, the mastermind behind www.h-arn.org has created a database of documentary images (an archive) of art projects between 1990-1996 available for public access. Every time an image is viewed, a horizontal and vertical line forming a cross are added to the archived image, which is then again stored for access by another user. The more the images are accessed, the more they are abstracted or — if one is thinking of preservation — destroyed.
Here the archive is similar to analog vinyl records losing their fidelity and being slightly deteriorated every time the needle passes through the groove. Unlike a record player, however, which is fabricated with the aim to provide the least damage possible while offering an aesthetic experience to the user, Le Catalogue actually makes the most of destruction in order to create a unique image for the present user. The image is unique in time and space because next time the same file is accessed, there will be two more lines added, and so on. In this way, Le Catalogue takes on the idea of destruction as a progressive movement, bringing on the new; and so, one can look forward to destruction as a type of online collaboration, where the archived is not preserved but rather reinterpreted as constant shifting information. History is here dependent on linear traces that expose the instability of interpretation; much like tree rings, traces are left behind by the process of development, leaving us with an allegorical database presenting destruction as an inevitable part of life.
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