The famous, and seldom attributed quote “I don’t know art, but I know what I like” probably holds true for most of us. I run into very few professional art critics in my daily grind, but everyone and their brother will tell me why opinion on art is wrong. But in fairness I’m more likely to head to the Arms and Armor Gallery at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art than just about anyplace else. And I’ve never been to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, because it sounded a tad… boring.
But today I found out what I was missing. I didn’t visit the museum or even their Web site, but rather heard about the launch of the MFA Mobile program, which is the first of its kind in the United States. It was developed by communications agency Hill Holliday and allows users to wirelessly download museum masterpieces to their mobile handsets. Want a Claude Monet water lily or Egyptian sculpture in the palm of your hands, now you can get it!
“We’re thrilled to be the first museum in the country to initiate a Mobile Wallpaper program, enabling users to carry a Museum masterpiece with them, wherever they go” said Kim French, Deputy Director of Communications at the MFA. “The MFA continues to explore opportunities to broaden the distribution of its encyclopedic collection of art through new technologies.”
A single wallpaper is priced at $1.99, while users may also choose an MFA Mobile subscription for $4.99 a month, which includes up to five wallpapers a month, plus the option to choose a bonus special wallpaper of the month.
OK, so some art fans may find this sharing of significant works or art to be just another way of diminishing their importance, but it is actually allowing people who might otherwise not visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston appreciate these pieces. And if it puts a smile on someone’s face then the art is truly doing what it was intended to do in the first place.
While a few art enthusiasts might conclude that this diminishes the “sanctity” of the work, others will find that now they have the option to carry art with them everywhere. On another note, I believe this says a lot for the mobile community. Not too long ago, everything was going online, but now everything is going mobile. Mobile banking, mobile social networking and now mobile art; it’s only going to be a matter time before everything is available via mobile.
I doubt whether this will have any success at all. I think the value of the press release will be much higher than that of the service itself. And the opinion of art snobs who feel that art should be for the elite only doesn’t really make sense.
An interesting development…Art in your hands…Art for all…But is it “big” enough to appreciate it really ?
There is ArtOnPhone for classic art on mobiles. And it’s free.