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Another Google Cultural Initiative — World Of Wonders — With WMF

July 24, 2012 by 4 Comments
Caserta

Not going away for a summer vacation this year? There's a new tool from the World Monuments Fund* and Google that salves that wound. It's called the World Wonders website, and it takes you to some of the world’s great places -- all culturally significant sites -- "through panoramic images, 3-D models, photographs, YouTube videos, and other information." You can travel vicariously. More than 130 sites in 18 countries are already up, and the WMF promises more to come. The project offers anyone anywhere in the world with access to the … [Read more...]

07/24/12 9:34 PM | filed under: Technology, Uncategorized |

Lost In A Museum? Google To The Rescue

July 11, 2012 by 5 Comments
phone_shell

It's true, museums are confusing to people who don't frequent them. I don't mind wandering, unless I'm in a hurry, but I know that other people do. As the newsdesk of the Smithsonian wrote yesterday: "What can we see?” and “How do we get there?” are two of the most common questions asked by Smithsonian visitors. Naturally, Google, which annoyed me and other art-lovers by forcing us to use the Google Art Project only on its browser, Chrome, is making that up to us by using its mapping app in museums. All 17 of the Smithsonian's … [Read more...]

07/11/12 9:06 PM | filed under: Museums, Technology |

Can A Web Initiative Rescue Churchill From The Dustbin Of History?

June 24, 2012 by 4 Comments
Churchill-Power-words

Harry Benson, well known photographer of both presidents and pop icons -- he accompanied the Beatles on their first trip to the U.S. -- was recalling his long career recently when he mentioned something that troubled him: When he mentions Winston Churchill, young people don't know who he is. He's not the first to notice: A few years ago, a poll in Britain turned up the startling fact that a fifth of teenagers there thought Churchill was a fictional character -- even while majorities believed that Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur and Robin Hood … [Read more...]

06/24/12 5:12 PM | filed under: Exhibitions, Technology |

Along Comes Wikipaintings: A New Image Bank

April 5, 2012 by 1 Comment
Magritte

Given the news -- and excitement -- about the expansion of the Google Art Project this week, I thought I'd mention another, related venture. It's different but shares some of the same goals. It's Wikipaintings.   It's a non-profit, like Wikipedia, and it's trying to become the "most complete and well-structured online repository of fine art. We hope to make classical art a little more accessible and comprehensible, and also want to provide a new form of interaction between contemporary artists and their audience. In the future we plan to … [Read more...]

04/5/12 2:32 PM | filed under: Artworks, Technology, Uncategorized |

Google Expands Art Project, But Gets a Little Evil

April 3, 2012 by 21 Comments
IMG_0197

Google announced today in Paris and Chicago that it's expanding beyond the museums and art works that were part of its first launch in February, 2011 -- way beyond the 17 museums chosen originally. It now has 151 partners in 40 countries; in the U.S., the initial four museums has grown to 29 institutions, including the White House and university art galleries. Here's the full press release, which says in part: From now on, with a few simple clicks of their fingers, art lovers will be able to discover not just paintings, but also … [Read more...]

04/3/12 1:10 PM | filed under: Technology |

The DIA’s Many Facebook Fans: Will They Show Up in Person? — UPDATED

February 29, 2012 by 4 Comments
great_hall

The Detroit Institute of Arts sent me a press release today that, at first, made me chuckle. It wasn't about art at all -- it was about the number of people who "like" the DIA on Facebook -- or, as the DIA says, its Facebook fans. They now number more than 100,000. In fact, when I checked this evening, they numbered 102,758 -- are probably growing fast. There's a reason. The DIA is offering its Facebook fans free admission during the month of March. Furthermore, one such pass admits four people. Coming off a strong turnout for "Rembrandt … [Read more...]

02/29/12 8:26 PM | filed under: Museums, Technology |

The Ghent Altarpiece: Ready For Its Close Up

February 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
1045_20111716_1of11

Of all the art works in the world, the Ghent altarpiece is one of the most admired -- and now it will perhaps be one of the most studied, certainly the most studied from afar. The Getty Foundation on Friday announced that it was making available a website that will allow deep technical study of the 1432 work by Hubert and Jan can Eyck. Viewers can zoom in and look at all of the oak panels in macrophotography, infrared macrophotograpy, infrared reflectography and x-radiography. Here's what the Getty did: "Each centimeter of the … [Read more...]

02/26/12 7:04 PM | filed under: Research, Technology, Uncategorized |

Leonardo At The Movies: Lessons For The Future — And News

February 22, 2012 by 4 Comments
LeonardoLive

Most of you, I'm guessing, did not travel to London to see Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan at the National Gallery (which I've written about here and here). Neither did I. So I was very curious to see Leonardo Live, in HD, the movie version. It was simulcast live to movie theaters in the U.K.on the night of the exhibition's opening, and now it is being shown here in the U.S. and in other countries, mainly last Thursday. But I went to a showing at NYU on Tuesday night, where my friend Robert Simon, the dealer who has been … [Read more...]

02/22/12 9:33 PM | filed under: Artists, Technology |

The van Gogh Exhibit: Where’s The App? A Lost Opportunity

February 5, 2012 by 8 Comments
142008265

A comment, from MarkCC in Austin, on The New York Times website, following Roberta Smith's review of van Gogh Up Close at the Philadelphia Art Museum: Fabulous! Where's the app? I probably won't make it to Philly to see the exhibition but if it was an app it would be the next best thing. I could see the paintings on my flat screen, I could zoom in on them almost as close as I want. I'd even be willing to pay an "admission" price. You see a lot of uninformed and sometimes stupid comments on the web, following many articles and reviews, and … [Read more...]

02/5/12 7:28 PM | filed under: Artists, Exhibitions, Technology, Uncategorized |

Ariana Huffington To Museums: Don’t Forget Your DNA

December 28, 2010 by 1 Comment
ArianaHuffington[1]

Arianna Huffington posted an item about museums on her blog yesterday that held two surprises. For one, although she is clearly a person interested in the arts, someone who once wrote a book about Picasso, it never occurred to me that she thought much about museums. Or, as she revealed, that she would be invited to speak to a group of "museum presidents and directors" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. But she is certainly a successful entrepreneur, and she was out in front of other media groups on new media. So there you … [Read more...]

12/28/10 11:45 AM | filed under: Museums, Technology, Uncategorized |
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