Lecture #2

Paola Antonelli believes that “design is the highest form of creative expression”. Antonelli works for MoMA as a senior art curator in the Department of Architecture and Design. While she doesn’t want to label all design as art, she wants to make it known that design is much more than just “cute chairs” and wants to make it known that there is a movement towards digital appropriations of art.

Antonelli brought fourteen classic video games to the MoMA collection and was criticized heavily, as many naysayers stated that simple children’s games didn’t belong next to the works of Picasso and Van Gogh. Antonelli’s intention was not to qualify video games as art, but rather as a major accomplishment in coding and design. Comparing the two is basically idiotic, as they don’t even belong in the same category. Antonelli’s intention was to put forth interactive designs that can have an emotional effect and video games fit her niche perfectly.

Although, just because it’s a video game doesn’t mean that Antonelli thought it could qualify as good design. She specifically left guns out of the collection, since the negative and violent connotations are very literal when it comes to design—which is very unlike art. Computer games like the Sims, which allow the user to create and maintain a virtual reality, involve high levels of human interaction, personalization, and were very attractive to the curator. Overall, Antonelli wants people to understand that video games are an important part of design and not just a nostalgic form of entertainment.

While Antonelli curates art, Amit Sood found a way to share curations like hers online with the world. Wanting to be able to tour famous museums and see works of art from his home, Sood created “Art Project”, which is essentially an online gallery. He worked in conjunction with famous museums (The Met, MoMA, etc.) in order to provide virtual tours of their spaces and was able to upload copies of their specific artworks.

Some of the online files are 10 billion pixels and grant the user the ability to zoom in on the pieces, which isn’t an option when viewing the paintings in person. The details are exceptional. Brushstrokes and small fissures in the paintings are made visible through Sood’s project and the online space is completely customizable; users can save their favorite paintings and add personal notations to them in an effort to fully experience the artwork. Sood made the project as an equalizer and a way for people from any corner of the earth to be able to experience the museums and interact with these infamous portraits and landscapes.

Both Antonelli and Sood talked heavily on the idea of the move towards digital art and the exceedingly important role of human interaction. While they have vastly different projects under their belts, Antonelli and Sood are opening the eye’s of individuals to design and art all across the world.

Works Cited

http://www.ted.com/talks/amit_sood_building_a_museum_of_museums_on_the_web.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/paola_antonelli_why_i_brought_pacman_to_moma.html