Here are three of a dozen previously unseen digital images that were created by Andy Warhol and have been trapped on deteriorating floppy disks from 1985. They were just recovered by “a multi-institutional team of new-media artists, computer experts, and museum professionals” using something called “Forensic Retrocomputing.”
The purely digital images, “trapped” for nearly 30 years on Amiga® floppy disks stored in the archives collection of The Andy Warhol Museum (AWM), were discovered and extracted by members of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Computer Club, with assistance from the AWM’s staff, CMU’s Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry (FRSCI), the Hillman Photography Initiative at theCarnegie Museum of Art (CMOA), and New York based artist Cory Arcangel.
There are only three available to news media. They are posted here without the requested permissions because this is fair use and don’t get me started. Come at me, copyright-bros.
Campbell’s, 1985. Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987). Digital image, from disk 1998.3.2129.3.22. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. © 2014 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Venus, 1985, Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), Digital image, from disk 1998.3.2129.3.22, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. © 2014 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
There’s a very interesting Detailed Technical Report (PDF) of the aforementioned “Forensic Retrocomputing” and “file-level analysis” of “so-called disk images” generated by the KryosFlux and whatever.
Andy2, 1985, Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), Digital image, from disk 1998.3.2129.3.4, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. © 2014 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
As noted by Prosthetic Knowledge, while this series has actually never been seen before, Andy Warhol is well-known Amiga lover and famously used it to paint Debbie Harry at the Commodore Amiga product launch in 1985.
