Mona Lisa iSmile
You know how people always put the Mona Lisa on their Paris ‘to do’ list, get lost looking for it, ignore all the other art, stay for 20 seconds and then head off shopping/drinking/flanneuring…This is exactly point artist Leo Caillard is making with his set of images that map the Apple User Interface onto the Louvre. Wired quote Caillard:
“Digital technology is changing the way we consume culture,” he says. “This is neither good or bad. A lot of very interesting art emerges from new tools of expression. But, like any change, it will take time for people to understand that we need art of the past and masterpiece paintings [in order] to make something interesting with digital creation. The future will let us know.”
Art galleries are – on so many levels – at odds with the rest of culture and while turning them into iPhone apps isn’t the answer, looking at the new ways we engage with cultural information is extremely important.