Besides your artwork, your digital documentation (high-res images, bios, statements, CV, exhibit photos, etc) is probably one of he most valuable things you own related to your art career. Yet, most artists I know do not have a backup plan in case something terribly wrong happens to their computer.

Think about it, you probably have high-res images of works you no longer have access to anymore. The same way, probably most photographs of your openings only exist in digital format. Not to mention all the contacts you have gathered over the years.  All that important information can be gone with one bad day.  I have seen artist loose all their records when a laptop is stolen or a hard drive dies out.

To me, that information is as valuable as gold. So, why not protect it and have a backup plan?  In a digital age where most documentation exists only in digital form, you need a digital backup plan.  External drives are one way of doing so. You can also burn CDs or DVDs or use cloud-based backup solutions. Some people are using Dropbox. Although, I am not always confident with free service that can change their customer agreements or just go out of business without any given notice.

This is my backup plan that I have followed for the last few years. It has saved me a couple times of some really bad days.  It is just an example.  All my important work is in my laptop. It goes with me just about whatever I go.  In case something wrong happens to it, I have burned DVDs of all files I do not longer need to carry around. I have them organized on discs at home.  Additionally, I have an external drive with all the high-res photos I want to make sure to protect.  Lastly, every two weeks I back up my entire Documents folder, Dropbox and external drive to another computer in my office away from home.  I also use Dropbox for some file sharing and quick backups.  You might think that I am exaggerating but I do all my planning, business and career handling digitally.  The rolodex and paper days are long gone for me.  I guess it would take a dooms day to completely eliminate all my digital data from the phase of the earth.

What is your backup plan?  Yes, it is not easy and it takes time but if you agree that all that information is as important as I think it is, do something about it.  There are some things that once lost, are impossible to recover.  The worst thing you can do is leave something very important for your art career unprotected.

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