Finlandia played on mobiles

Last Friday (December 6) was Finnish Independence Day so I guess it is OK to digress into a little bit of nationalism. Independence day is a day of somber festivities in Finland. The biggest event is the annual president’s independence day ball, where everybody who is anybody in Finland wants to show up. The ball is actually watched by like 1/3 of the population. Which says more about the Finns watching than about the programming.

One of the key symbols of independence is the national anthem. The Finnish national anthem is called “Maamme” (“Our country” in English). It is however not uncommon that people think the Finlandia hymn, composed by Finland’s most famous composer, Jean Sibelius, is the national hymn. Well, it’s not, but musically it is far better than the anthem.

Now what has all this to do with mobile phones? Patience, it’s coming. In the video below, the Mobile Phone Orchestra of the Aalto University plays Sibelius Finlandia. And they do it very well.

So if you are into mobiles and culture, this is a must for you! The video also shows some nice Finnish scenery. I think though that there is nothing more Finnish than the sombre orchestra itself, standing outside in the cold and snow, playing in earnest this national music treasure. You cannot get more Finnish than that. Enjoy!

Spend it with Collectrium

If you’ve got some dollars or euros or krona still burning holes in your pockets after the last recession, perhaps one good way to off-load it would be investing into art? Now there is an interesting looking iPhone application to help you do just that.

The application is called Collectrium (yes, there is an “r” in there). It is an interesting mix between high-profile art catalogue, art identification tool and shopping list (sic!).

Collectrium seems to be targeting three groups of art stakeholders together in an interesting way. The stakeholders are the collectors, the in-betweens (galleries and perhaps most notably at this time, art fairs) and the artists.

For collectors, the app provides identification of artworks and extensive information on the works. Just snap a picture of a painting and the work will be identified along with information on artist etc. As a collector you can also feature your own collection if you want to show it (off).

For the selling side, it is possible to create catalogues etc to help with marketing and getting those deals. It is also possible to build web galleries out of the Collectrium catalogues. Currently the focus seems to be quite US-centric .

For once an art application with an understandable business case. Collectrium comes with a monthly fee (starting at $19/month for artists to $49/month for galleries). Check out what you need over at the Collectrium site!

Thanks to psfk.com for spotting this (psfk btw look like a really interesting site if you are into innovative business ideas)

Beauty of (mobile) destruction

Ready for a totally different interpretation of mobile art? Regardless of your stance on Apple and it’s products, this should raise an eyebrow or two.

Or what do you say about a number of destroyed pieces of Apple equipment including a few iPhones :-).

Regardless of the tragic end for the equipment, it seems that artist Michael Tompert and photographer Paul Fairchild do not bear any grudge against Apple.

See the rest of the outcome of this electronics demolition derby over at fubiz.net! Found via mobileinc.co.uk.

Get EYE'EM – application or book

EYE’EM is a very recent movement for mobile photography that has seen great growth and success this year. After having staged a successful exhibition of mobile photography in Berlin, the movement then went on to do the same in New York.

Now EYE’EM is also on mobiles. The EYE’EM application for iPhone has just been launched. So if you own an iPhone and are into mobile photography, then this application is a must!

For those who are iPhone-challenged, EYE’EM is offering a more traditional way to enjoy the results of the Berlin exhibition. The highlights of the exhibition have been published as a book (cover shown). You can buy the book online at Lulu.com. 

Let’s hope EYE’EM can bring the application also to other mobile phones soon! In the meanwhile, go read the book!

NokyArt – an art gallery for mobile phones

Well, we all knew the French are in the avant garde of art, n’est-ce pas? So it should come as no surprise that the first open art gallery solution (or if you know of some other gallery, pls leave a comment) for mobile phones comes from France.

The gallery is called NokyArt. Currently it can be installed on Nokia touch screen and Android devices. Now that the application supports other than Nokia devices, the name seems a “interesting”. Perhaps a potential lesson in naming your service?

Regardless of the name, NokyArt connects artists with art lovers in a very nice way. If you are an artist, you can register and set up a gallery on NokyArt. Then you can upload up to 25 works of art to be shown in your gallery. Signing up for an account costs a mer 20€/year, a very moderate cost if this service would become a success. There is a qualification process (you need to upload 6 works to qualify) so there is hope that the gallery will keep a high standard.

If you are an art lover, you can view the art works on your mobile phone. All you need to do is to go to the Nokia Ovi store and download the NokyArt application or head over to the Android market to download it from your Android phone. You can then browse the works from your mobile. So much more interesting than just surfing news (they never are good, are they), right?

So regardless if you are an art lover or an artist, check NokyArt out!

Update: After having tested the application on a Nokia and an Android phone, I’m a bit less enthusiastic about it. Read about the test here.

French impressionists on your mobile

The Art Institute of Chicago has done a very laudable deed and is now bringing the big French Impressionists to your mobile (well, if you have an Android device or an iPhone). How about seeing some of the best works of Seurat, Van Gogh, Monet, Caillebotte, Renoir  and Toulouse-Lautrec as high quality images on your mobile? Just download the application and take a trip back to one of the most exciting periods in the history of art!

A quote from the web site on what the application offers:

High-resolution images of 100+ iconic works—drawn from the original scans that only the Art Institute has—from the museum’s world-renowned collection

Informative and engaging entries on each painting by the museum’s curators

Biographies of the 22 artists whose works are represented

Videos related to the art works and to the history of the collection

Narrated virtual tours of select Impressionist galleries at the museum

A photo-rich history of the development of this magnificent collection

Exclusive detailed descriptions not available in the galleries

Check it out at an appstore near you!

Illuminated Touch 2010

If you are in New York this Sunday (October 24), lucky you! Make sure you don’t miss this: Illuminated Touch 2010 exhibition.

The Illuminated Touch 2010 is an art exhibition associated with Mobile Art Con 2010 conference, the first conference dedicated to art and mobiles.

Quote from the exhibition web page:

More than 150 fine artists, illustrators, photographers and musicians from all over the world are inviting the NYC public to explore the creative possibilities of mobile digital technology. The show features more than 200 works exclusively created on iPhones, iPads, Androids and other mobile wireless devices.

You find the exhibition at the Openhouse Gallery, 201 Mulberry Street, NY, NY., 7pm – 10pm.  Sounds like a great event to me! Good luck to the organizers.

 

Asphalt and sunflowers – a high tech exhibition with a mobile twist

Satu Savia, the exhibition producer, takes a well deserved break to check out the Rista's works on a mobile phone.

As a reader, you might wonder why the photo exhibition Asphalt and sunflowers (for details on the exhibition, see earlier post here and here) gets so much exposure in this blog?

Well, that is a good question, and there is also a very good answer! You might have noted that Aapo Rista participated in the 3 Inch Canvas exhibition for art on mobiles with a work based on photos taken by his parents. And of course it is Aapo’s parents, Eeva and Simo Rista, who are exhibiting at the Asphalt and sunflowers exhibition.

However, the story does not end there. Aapo has created two digital complements to the exhibition. The first complement is the web site www.asfalttiajaauringonkukkia.fi displaying his parent’s work on the web. If you visit the exhibition, you can also check out the works on the website on a big screen connected to a pc.

The other complement done by Aapo for the exhibition is an upgraded version of his work shown in the 3 Inch Canvas exhibition. In the museum lobby – just were you might want to sit down if you wait for someone to join you for the exhibition or where you might want to take the load off you feet for a short while – is a table and comfy chairs plus two Nokia N900 phones running Aapo’s exhibition software.

This mobile exhibition another way to enjoy those photos that absolutely deserve to be displayed to the wider audience but that did not fit in the set of 150 images shown in the print exhibition. Just sit down and enjoy thousands on great photos!

The high tech stuff actually does not end there. There is also a voice-guide for the exhibition which uses iPods. It features some of Finland’s more popular voices to give an informative and entertaining background to some of the works in the exhibition.

If you visit the exhibition, we would love to hear your opinion on the various technical complements. Which ones did you use and how did you like them? Please drop us a line either here or on the our Facebook page!

Aapo and Eeva Rista check out Aapo's mobile application featuring Eeva's photos.

The website asfalttiajaauringonkukkia.fi can be accessed at the exhibition.

The portfolio machine: artist's preview of the Nokia N8

While presenting the 3 Inch Canvas exhibition at the Nokia Flagship store, I had the chance to briefly play around with the new Nokia N8. Here are a couple of observations on the phone from the perspective of artists.

Firstly I have to say that the N8 certainly seems to be the best Symbian phone Nokia has ever produced. The only detail that might make you think otherwise is the lack of a real keyboard. At least personally I type so much slower on the touch screen. If the rumors of a similar E-series device are correct,  you should soon be able to choose a keyboard version as well.

When talking to artists at the exhibition, one of the recurring talking points was how artists could use a mobile device to carry with them their portfolio. With some of the new features of the N8, this is one role where the N8 really shines.

If you are looking to be able to carry your portfolio with you at all times, you should take a look at the N8. Regardless of whether you want to present your work as images, video or Flash, you can show them on the N8.

The N8 also has a really good display letting your content shine when you show it directly on the device. I thought the X6 (which we used  for the exhibition) has a great display, but the N8 seems to outperform it, not by much but still. Colors look great and the image and video gallery works very smoothly with all the touch/swipe action you would want.

What takes the N8 to a next level with respect to showing content,  is the fact that the N8 comes with an HDMI interface. This means that you can connect the N8 to most modern flat panel TVs or desktop displays and show content in full HD format. You need to carry a cable with you, but the payback in terms of image quality on a big screen is well worth it.

The N8 can have up to 48G of memory, so you should be able to take pretty much any content you want with you. And if you still run out of memory, the N8 comes with the capability to act as a USB host, so now you can connect USB memory devices to the phone if you really need to go beyond that 48G.

All in all, the N8 looked like a very nice device and as an artist’s “show them what you’ve got” device to put on an instant display of your works, the N8 seems to be a hard act to beat.

Great video collection of mobile art on Vimeo

 

‘Inside Mr Space’ #ia04 from Steve John on Vimeo.

James Alliban, augmented reality specialist and interactive artist, has compiled a very nice Vimeo channel that features lots of interesting art projects done on mobile (iPhone).

Check it out, one of my favourites shown here in the post!