The concept of structure in this research is based on the idea of interfaces and the technical layers that facilitate communication between different parts of the computer. Here, I propose the idea of an interfacial stack, a conceptual framework that draws on Benjamin H. Bratton’s The Stack: On Software and Sovereignty (2015). Bratton uses the model of “The Stack” to map the political geographies rapidly evolving through technological advancement. His analysis shifts the focus from traditional territorial boundaries which are historically the locus of political power to planetary-scale computation, which redistributes sovereignty across a spectrum from subterranean cloud infrastructure to urban software and the privatisation of public services. To clarify how these new systems influence populations, Bratton presents a schema of six interdependent layers: Earth, Cloud, City, Address, Interface, and User. This model is partially informed by the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) and TCP/IP network models that underpin global internet connectivity. In Bratton’s framework, these models serve as both a technical prototype and a primary abstraction for organising communication within a vertical assemblage operating on a megastructural scale.

For my own interfacial stack, I adopt a similar logic of layered structures, where each stratum is carefully positioned atop the others in a state of continuous communication. In this interfacial stack, every layer functions as an interface; crucially, however, no single layer can be isolated without compromising the functionality of the entire system. Consider a web browser: though abstract and immaterial, it relies on hardware components like a screen for display and requires a ‘readable’ GUI to enable user interaction. Therefore, when discussing interfaces, it is imperative to consider the interplay among all layers, as they are mutually dependent and constantly influence and constrain one another. In this thesis, I argue that this stack should be understood as a single, complex interface, its layers representing distinct sub-interfaces that collectively constitute the digital environment. The layers of my proposed interface stack are as follows: User to Hardware (this includes input and output devices that facilitate the user's interaction with the physical machine), Hardware to Software (this encompasses the electronic signal exchange between hardware and software, enabling the physical components to process and execute software commands), Software to Software (predominantly involving APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), this layer is responsible for most automation within the digital environment) and, User Interface wich pepresents the visual and interactive aspect of the interface, which is most frequently discussed in media studies as it directly facilitates the user's engagement with the digital environment.

 

To test this idea of an interfacial stack within net art curatorial practice, I am examining online archiving practices through a specific case study: the Wrong Archives. This is a preservation project I developed dedicated to The Wrong Biennale N5 (2021–2022), consisting of video recordings I collected during the three-month event. The recordings are accessible via an Exhibition View link, leading to a page containing videos and metadata for each project. Designed as a list registry, the webpage reflects specific archival practices for net art and includes filtering options based on two tags. The first, Link Rot, indicates whether projects are still active or no longer available. The second Category organises the artworks based on their original exhibition within the Biennale’s embassies.

 

Preserving internet art presents significant challenges within academic discourse due to its distinctive characteristics and the rapidly evolving technological landscape. Key factors include technological obsolescence, the dynamic and interactive nature of the artworks, the fragility of online content, intellectual property concerns, and complexities in documentation. As artist and digital conservator Dragan Espenschied stated in an interview, “I guess this mistreatment of digital artefacts as objects and finished forms is happening because digital archiving has absorbed traditions from classical archiving” (Espenschied and Corcoran in Perks, 2016, p. 216). This highlights how conventional archiving methods from physical institutions are often unsuitable for digital artefacts, potentially leading to their misrepresentation.

 

My methodological choices for the Wrong Archives were dictated by a desire to move beyond these obstacles. A key inspiration is the rhizomatic approach of Rhizome's ArtBase, an archive of born-digital art. Their model treats each artwork as having multiple ‘variants’ wich can be external links, hosted copies, or documentation and are all accessible from a central page, acknowledging that a digital work’s existence is not singular but multifaceted. By taking the interfacial stack as the main theoretical direction and Rhizome's ArtBase as a key case study, the Wrong Archives project tests and demonstrates how a layered, interdependent model can inform strategies for archiving net art on the internet itself.