The Project
How would you like to use your mobile phone or iPod to experience art in a whole new way?
Art Mobs is a project that will allow you to share your experience of art with others who have a mobile phone or iPod.- With a mobile phone (via text messaging) you could leave a comment about a work of art for others to see, and you could read the most recent comments left by others.
- With an iPod (or other mp3 player) you could listen to a guided tour made by an artist, a professor, a friend, or just someone who has an interesting point of view. You could make your own audio tour of a gallery or exhibit and allow others to download it to their iPods.
The People
Art Mobs is a project conducted by Dr. David Gilbert and students from his Organizational Communication Course at Marymount Manhattan College. We anticipate launching our first project in a few weeks (after Thanksgiving) so bookmark this page, or better yet, add the syndication feed [Link] to your news aggregator so you'll know as soon as we do when and where we plan to launch!
The Plan
- How will people send text messages attached to an artwork?
- We are happy to be partnering with YellowArrow, an NYC organization that is doing some very exciting things with location-based social software. We will be using their SMS platform to extend their vision of urban communication into the gallery space.
- How will people make their own audio guides?
- We will use a new technology known as podcasting. And we plan to make it easy for anyone who wants to record and post an audio guide for others to use.
Our project—including its name—owes a debt to Howard Rheingold who coined the term "Smart Mobs," and to others who have extended the idea. The logo at the head of this blog is an obvious hack of an Apple iPod ad, and we hope that it is an example of Fair Use.
Finally, feel free to email us with questions or suggestions.