Museums2Go

Amidst your holiday preparations and travels here are some iPhone apps for current art exhibitions in Paris, London, Zurich, and Lincoln, Massachusetts to perhaps give you a few moments of enriched time .This is the second of two post related to current art exhibition apps.  Click here for Part 1.

6. Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)

Through January 24, 2011 – Galeries nationales du Grand Palais – Paris

By my count there are 17 iPhone apps on Apple’s App Store directly related to Monet and probably that many and more devoted to French Impressionism in general. I may just have to devote a post or a whole week of posts to reviewing just Monet apps just to explore the various ways developers are approaching the work of this one artist.  The app for the current exhibition “Claude Monet (1840-1926)” at the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais is :  Monet the visit : exhibition at the Grand Palais 2010 – Acoustiguide Smartour. Alastair Sooke writes in The Telegraph that, “Over-amiliarity with the work of Claude Monet has robbed it of much of its potency. Now a new Paris exhibition is looking to recall the dazzling storm the artist caused nearly 150 years ago”.  For one visitor’s reaction to attending the exhibition I recommend Rebecca Taylor‘s blog post, “Beyond the First Impression: Rediscovering Monet in Paris“.

“Monet the visit” is the audio guide downloaded. The exhibition contains over 160 works by Monet and with 43 audio clips this app has an impressive percentage of them covered.  I appreciate the improvement of being able to download the audio guide in advance of attending an exhibit, skipping a line to pick up the audio guide, and having it handy after the visit as well. However, to me the audio guide is a nice to have, handy and perfunctorily functional. I like them but I don’t love them.  However, for the purpose of this blog I’m viewing “Monet the visit” as an app, not to detract from its appeal as an audio guide but to consider what is translating in this app by a leader in audio and multimedia interpretation guides that works within the app experience.  How does the app stand alone as an app experience?

What I appreciate in “Monet the visit” is the “Map” view which provides a floor plan for each of the two floors of the exhibition (this is the same format as in Acoustiguide’s app for the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco-read a good review by Sarah Dines of that app here).  Sure the map view provides the same information as the list view but for me the map view gives a better sense of how the exhibition unfolds. Which painting is located near which? For me the map view gives a better sense at times of which paintings to compare and contrast at times as I might if I were at the exhibition. A nice touch might have been to add an introductory video which included a visual overview of the gallery layout much like in the “Curator’s Introduction” on the app for Yoshitomo Nara.

This app, as its name indicates, is intended to accompany a visit to the exhibition therefore it’s to be forgiven if when listening to the audio for a particular work the user decides to tap on the image of the work to take a closer look the audio stops. The same thing happens when the user taps the icon for “learn more”.  Therefore the user has the choice of listening to the audio or learning more but cannot do both at the same time. For the user who is not in front of the paintings being discussed this is a little frustrating particularly when the narrator suggest taking a closer look at a particular portion of the painting.  Compare this with more seamless experience in the Infinity of Nations app or the cultY Picasso app reviewed below.

I’ve already noted that Acoustiguide’s Houdini app could benefit from a greater efficiency in the flow of user taps and the same applies here (Interestingly Sarah Dines noted this as an “emerging pet peeve” for her in her review of Acoustiguide’s Asian Art Museum-San Francisco) .  Jonathan Wegener has a nice post on the economy of taps for interested readers. Lonely Planet, for example, recently simplified its ‘City Guides for iPhone’ travel app to a ‘three taps or less’ promise. For a more in-depth read on well developed tap design I highly recommend Tapworthy by Josh Clark and his credo, “Every element of your app has to be tapworthy”.

“Monet the visit” works fine as an audio guide, as intended, and at $3.99 is a bargain if you intend to visit the exhibition.  However, while the audio clips here are informative I didn’t find the overall experience of the app to be engaging for the virtual visitor. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

7. Muybridgizer

Through January 16, 2011 – Tate Britain – London

Muybridgizer is a fun app of modest ambitions that is currently the 63rd most popular photography app in the UK App Store and is also ranked by Applyzer.com in 65 other countries. This might not seem like much compared to a hit game app at present but it really highlights the prospective reach of a creative museum app. Among the apps I have reviewed thus far on this blog this is the most countries in which I’ve seen a museum app ranked.  And it seems really hard for a museum app of any kind at present to break the top 100 in any category.  Though I’m confident that that blockbuster museum app is not too far off.

“The Muybridgizer allows iPhone photographers to take pictures inspired by the iconic works of early photographer Eadweard Muybridge. The release of the app celebrates the opening of a major exhibition of Muybridge’s work at Tate Britain. The Muybridgizer freeze-frames the moving world, just as Muybridge did with subjects ranging from running horses to leapfrogging boys. In homage to the analogue Victorian beauty of the originals, users can Muybridge-ize their frames with grids and sepia tones, transforming their moving images into striking vitage-style pictures.” -From the Tate Gallery’s description.

Commissioned by Tate,  Nexus Interactive Arts directors Theo Watson & Emily Gobeille have created an app that playfully teaches a little about the man who showed that “horses can fly” by allowing users a chance to create their own Muybridgized photos. First the user selects a grid size of 3×3 or 4×4 and then rather you want a “fast” or “slow” selection.  Choose based upon the speed of the movement of the subject you are photographing.  After capturing your selected subject the user is presented with the finished grid. Tap on the grid and your Muybridgized sequence is ready for a spin. Swipe the image and your sequence swirls past like an old time Zoopraxiscope.

The Muybridgizer automatically saves your work to a “Gallery” unless you choose to delete it.  You can also save it to your iPhones Photo Library but the real fun of these photos is playing them in your Muybridgizer app so I’d group this with your other photo apps such as Instagram (It won’t be long until you see a few Muybridgized videos on your friends Facebook wall). Next the Muybridgizer gives you the option of sharing your work on the Muybridgizer Flickr Group, emailing to a friend, or, as mentioned, saving to your iPhones Photo Library. This would be particularly enjoyable if when you received a friend’s Muybridgized photos you could play them on your Muybridgizer but that doesn’t seem to be the case unfortunately.

What I appreciate in the Muybridgizer app (aside from introducing that Star Trek-ish word into my vocabulary) is how simply but effectively the experience of the app conveys the joy that viewers must have felt when Eadweard Muybridge first unveiled his Zoopraxiscope. Isn’t it that type of moment of delight that encourages you to want to explore more?  As such I think, modest as this app is, Muybridgizer’s effective in giving users a bit of fun rather they intend to visit the related exhibition or not. In either case this app gives the curious a jumping off point for exploring more and for seeing anew the creative leap of Mr. Muybridge. By such simple departure points are muses often inspired.

Muybridgizer is currently a free app (for a limited time) on Apple’s App Store. Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch (4th generation). Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

8. cultY Picasso (EN)

Through January 30, 2011 – Kunsthaus Zurich – Zurich

If I may a couple of housekeeping notes to begin with, cultY Picasso continues the intriguing  tradition of naming apps for exhibitions by the vendor’s name rather than the exhibition name or the institution (see “Naming your app” for more of this).  Seems to me if I had funded the development of an app for an exhibition at my institution I would want the name of the exhibition as the app name if for no other reason than to aid visitors in locating the app when searching on the app store.  Second bit of housekeeping, when the app is for an exhibition it is helpful if one of the two links on the app store description links to the exhibition website or at least the institution website.  Why have both links pointing to the vendor? And finally, there are two “cultY Picasso (EN)” available on the US Apple App Store, this is the link for the one that is in English.

“To mark its centenary, the Kunsthaus Zurich is paying tribute to Pablo Picasso, the towering genius of the twentieth century, with a comprehensive homage to a sensational show. This was the artist’s first ever museum-based retrospective, held in 1932. The exhibition, which ran from September to November of that year at the Kunsthaus Zurich, had been put together by the Spanish painter in person – a revolution in the art world. It was new for the works in a museum-based exhibition to be selected by the artist himself, rather than the museum director. Now, around 100 of the best pieces from that show are on display at the Kunsthaus once again – a unique experience!”-From the App Store description.

Opening Screenshot for cultY Picasso

Screenshot of Alphabetical View of the Audio Guide

The opening screen (to the left) of this app is welcoming and inviting for the viewer. Instantly it conveys multiple paths by which the user may explore and makes prominent that which curator and developer would encourage the user to begin their journey.

Tapping “Picasso” reveals the audio guide and the user has a choice between the numerical order of the audio stops or an alphabetical view (right screenshot). Navigational choice really makes an app more interesting to explore. The question is how to offer choice that is relevant to the exhibition without cluttering the limited screen.

Given that the audio clips here vary in focus between works of art, biographical information and overviews of different periods in the artist’s oeuvre it might make more sense to have these as the navigation options rather than “ABC” and “Keypad”.  ”Keypad” seems redundant to “123″. While “ABC” might be useful as an index and thus say for returning to a particular piece for further review, it doesn’t feel natural as a way to first explore the content of this app.  Tapping “Biography” on the home screen takes the user to a screen with a very long scroll of text providing biographical details from throughout Picasso’s long life.  However, there is only eight pictures which the user swipes in slideshow fashion across the top of this screen and no accompanying audio clips in this section.  This is odd given that some of the same pictures accompany audio clips in the audio guide section. Breaking up the long biographical scroll into bite size chunks with more pictures and tying in the related audio might make this content more interesting to explore.  As it is it’s a convenient but not too inviting reference. Compare this with the navigation options for the Gauguin app I reviewed last week in Part 1.

Screenshot for "The Italian Woman"

Screenshot of Zoom Detail from "The Italian Woman"

Tap a stop on the audio guide and the audio clip begins automatically (always an appreciated default-tap economy remember). As the audio clip plays the user is free to tap on the image, zoom around and explore the image of the art work in closer detail even as the audio continues uninterrupted. That’s really not much to ask for but the difference in experience between those apps that pay attention to this level of detail and those that don’t is the difference between static in your headset and music to your ears.

An example of when this app really shines is in  ”Three Still Lifes”. Here the narrator examines “Wine Bottle” (1926),  ”Mandolin and Guitar” (1924), and “Studio with Plaster Head”(1925).  While listening to the short video clip the user can swipe Cover Flow style the three works of art, select one and zoom in and around the selected image, select another and repeat, scroll down and receive basic information including noting in this case that one of the works is part of the Guggenhiem collection in New York and the other is in the MoMA’s collection. Something to keep in mind for a future visit to New York as  a follow up to this oasis of an art moment with this app. And isn’t that how museum apps are likely to be experienced by the virtual visitor?  Small moments of suddenly enriched time while standing in line at the grocery store, or the security line at the airport (and many other longer portions of airport/airplane).  And all the while, during the user’s tapping around, uncovering and exploring the audio continues uninterrupted. (My wish list item to those working on TourML would be that someway I could bookmark these two works on loan from New York museums such that next time I’m visiting New York and these works are back on display I can have an ah-ha moment and make a point of seeing the originals.) The only thing missing from this example is what Hollywood would call the establishing shot.  Give the viewer a picture or video of the three works of art in the same space.

cultY Picasso offers hints of an exhibition related app’s potential and as such I recommend downloading rather or not you plan to attend the exhibition. Picasso has served as a source of inspiration for many a muse and this app might inspire a few more. This is a free app and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

9. Rubens, Poussin and 17th Century Artists (HD)

Through January 24, 2011 – Jacquemart-Andre Museum – Paris

If like me you’ve been curiously wondering “what if an app adopted Cover Flow as it’s primary means of navigation?” then you will definitely want to download Rubens, Poussin and 17th Century Artists (HD) produced by Culturespaces and developed by Smartapps. For those not familiar with Cover Flow imagine being able to flip through images of the works of art in an exhibition like a photo album (see the first screen shot below).  The aesthetic appeal of this method of navigation is immediate. The work of art itself is the most prominent image on the screen and not the stop number of the audio tour, or the title with a thumbnail of the work of art but the art work itself.  For the virtual visitor this greatly improves the experience of strolling through the exhibition freely by scrolling through the images. The user has the feeling one does when you walk into an exhibition and follow your eyes. Which painting captures your eyes’ attention and draws you in to explore?  For the virtual visitor on the go catching a few minutes of art during a subway ride or passing time while a spouse shops etc. the Cover Flow navigation is brilliant.  The user experience is such that you are drawn into the art because it puts the art front and center.  Your eyes lead your fingers. Like the app for Infinity of Nations the user doesn’t spend a lot of mental energy figuring out the technology (or tap, tap, tap, tapping) you are immediately immersed in the art.

Screenshot of Cover Flow View

The screenshot to the right shows how straightforward and intuitive this app is when in the Cover Flow view. In the lower left is the “i” icon for information, which in this view provides visitor information such as hours the museum is open, address, links to the website, as well as credits for exhibition and the app. In the lower right is an icon for the keypad for on-site visitors. And as you notice the title of the work of art, the artists, and date of the work of art are noted below the image of the art work.  Is this not an aesthetically pleasing balance of information that has its priorities in order?

"The Apotheosis of Germanicus" in Slideshow View

Tap on the image of the work of art in the center and the selected work becomes the center of focus. Controls in the lower left of this view allow the user to stay in Slideshow view and tap forward or backwards or return to the Cover Flow view. Tap the “Play” icon to play the audio, or the “Key Pad” icon to select another number (handy for the on-site visitor) and in this case the “Information” icon displays information pertinent to the selected work of art. Tap the image again and the controls disappear (the default should be to have these fadeout after a few seconds).

Zoom Detail from "The Apotheosis of Germanicus"

However, once you’ve tapped the image and the controls have disappeared the user can use two fingers to zoom in with great detail on the work of art.  Have I mentioned that once the user has pressed the “Play” icon and the audio starts that you are able to continue your exploration of the selected work of art without the audio stopping. From the moment you open this app down to selecting an image, listening to the accompanying audio, zooming around the selected image, everything feels frictionless. The user rarely stops to figure out the technology. In this app it’s all about getting out of the users way so they can be engaged with the work of art.

In the spirit of bonus material on DVDs there are three videos available at the beginning of the Cover Flow view which include a “trailer”, an “introduction” and a “making of”.  Savvy institutions will release these online in advance of the exhibition and the app’s release to drum up interest in both. The “making of” video here isn’t that creative actually and is missing audio commentary from the curator which would be most appreciated in this context.

Rubens, Poussin and 17th century artists (HD) is $3.99 on the Apple’s App Store and includes twenty of the sixty works of art in this exhibition plus the aforementioned videos. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

10. Scapes

Extended through the end of the year – DeCordova, Lincoln, Massachusetts

“The Scapes iPhone app is the front-end for a sound art installation by Halsey Burgund exhibited at the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA. Scapes augments the physical landscape of the park with a location-sensitive layer of audio. This audio layer contains a mixture of instrumental music and spoken voices – contributed by participants – both of which are influenced by the participant’s location within the sculpture park. As such, the participant’s body becomes the primary mode of interaction with this project; as they move through the park, they control how their individual audioscape unfolds by shifting the instrumental music and “running into” audio left by other participants. It is designed to work fully only while at the museum, so using the app while anywhere else will result in an incomplete experience…sorry!” from the artist’s description.

Although we might not get to experience Scapes in situ here is an intro video to give you some sense of how this is experienced.

Scapes Intro from Halsey Burgund on Vimeo.

The Scapes iPhone app has a simple interface.  On the welcome screen the user has two choices: “Listen” or “Speak”.  Tap listen and you will hear the voices of other museum visitors who have contributed their comments.

Imagine that “As participants walk around the sculpture park, the individual path they follow creates their own personal version of the Scapes audio experience. The music is directly influenced by the landscape and is composed using custom algorithms which constantly generate new music; there are no repeated loops.” from the artist’s Vimeo site.

Users do have some filtering options. Tap “Who” (left screenshot) and uncheck voices you do not want to hear.  Tap “What” (right screenshot) and uncheck the questions you don’t want to hear answers from.

If on the other hand the user wishes to “Speak” after selecting “Who is going to speak? Boy, Girl, Man, Woman” the app asks “What do you want to talk about?” and gives you five choices:

Scapes is an excuse to talk to yourself about anything at all.  Go for it.

Ask a question of those who come after you.

Tell a story inspired by something you see or feel here.

Look straight up and describe what you see.

Tell us about someone you wish was here with you right now.  Talk to him/her.

Nancy Proctor recently wrote about her experience with Scapes:

“Over the past decade, I’ve taken innumerable audio tours and tried a lot of variations on that basic mobile theme at museums and cultural sites on five continents. Inspired by Janet Cardiff and by Antenna Theater, to whose creative vision and innovative spirit I owe my career, I have said for years that it would be the artists who would show us how to use mobile to its fullest: how to push the boundaries of the technology and create truly transformative experiences and content. More recently, I have argued that mobile should be deployed primarily as a social media platform, creating conversations that go beyond the uni-directional, broadcast mode of traditional audio tours. But never did I dare dream that the realization of these principles would result in a mobile experience as profound or as exciting as what I experienced earlier this week at Halsey Burgund’s installation, “Scapes,” at the deCordova Sculpture Park. I have never left an exhibition so reluctantly in my life.” I would encourage you to read her full review of this experience here.

I felt hesitant about including this app because I haven’t had the chance to personally experience it on-site as the artist intended.  However, it is such a creative and fascinating example of what is possible that I would be amiss if I didn’t include it here.

The iPhone app for Scapes is available for free on Apple’s App Store. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch (2nd generation), iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.