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posted by martyb on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the send-me-a-sandwich dept.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has a new service that takes requests over SMS and sends them back over MMS:

Text 572-51 with the words "send me" followed by a keyword, a color, or even an emoji and you'll receive a related artwork image and caption via text message. For example "send me the ocean" might get you Pirkle Jones' Breaking Wave, Golden Gate; "send me something blue" could result in Éponge (SE180) by Yves Klein; and "send me 💐" might return Yasumasa Morimura's An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Collar of Thorns). Each text message triggers a query to the SFMOMA collection API, which then responds with an artwork matching your request.

Also in Smithsonian Magazine


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  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:07AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:07AM (#541722)

    Suck my bulbous mushroom cup is swollen and throbbing for your touch.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:16AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:16AM (#541726)

      🍄 🍄 🍄

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:20AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:20AM (#541731)

        🐧

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:14AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:14AM (#541724)

    send me 🍆

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:18AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:18AM (#541728)

      🐓

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:39AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:39AM (#541742)

        Robert Mapplethorpe, Bob Love, N.Y.C., 1979 [sfmoma.org]

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by darnkitten on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:35AM (19 children)

    by darnkitten (1912) on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:35AM (#541740)

    Clever, and I like the idea of being able to see artworks not currently on display, but I have to wonder if this will ultimately backfire, in that if you can instantly view any artwork without effort, it might reduce attendance? I would be wary of adding yet another layer of distance and abstraction between people and their experiences.

    Obviously, a phone-resolution view of a piece of art isn't the same as seeing the brushwork or toolmarks on the actual object, but we have many people who would rather watch a video on their TV or PC or phone than sit in a theater and experience film as it was intended--as part of an audience.

    I hope there is something added to the pictures--multiple views, details, links to the artist or background information-so that it won't become another passive mode of consumption.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Lagg on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:53AM (18 children)

      by Lagg (105) on Thursday July 20 2017, @01:53AM (#541748) Homepage Journal

      I never got to see an actual art museum. Left Denver before I could check out the insanely priced one on Capitol Hill. Now that I'm back in AZ the only options are for people of rockhound geology disposition or interest in Kingman's storied past of trains existing. Otherwise long trips /or websites. Seems perfect for hermits like myself that think they're hot shit for making it to SF and navigating the airport let alone travel for some random art museum.

      If t-mobile supported MMS in its PAYG anyway. Heh.

      I agree with your point re. the art's "lore" as it were. I'm guessing there will be a shorthand bio included in the MMS. Excerpts given in sauce seem to follow this. Detail wise I wouldn't be too bothered. People who have the insight to appreciate stroke detail will not be people like me and other target users. The attendance that matters - the learning kind - will be alright probably.

      By the way I recommend everyone simply skip SF entirely in a general sense and go to the Computer History Museum. It's 200% more interesting and has a functional babbage machine.

      --
      http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by bob_super on Thursday July 20 2017, @05:47AM

        by bob_super (1357) on Thursday July 20 2017, @05:47AM (#541822)

        Weep: According to wikipedia, the machine was transferred last year to Seattle: it sits near the lobby of, of all places, the Intellectual Ventures patent trolls.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @12:35PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @12:35PM (#541889)

        Hi, all public funded museums (including the museum of contemporary art) in Stockholm are free to visit in 2017. Welcome!

        • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Thursday July 20 2017, @02:56PM (2 children)

          by Lagg (105) on Thursday July 20 2017, @02:56PM (#541922) Homepage Journal

          I'm not sure what our murikan rules are about funding and public cost but I imagine it is much the same. Thing is though the museum in question is actually separate from Denver [wikipedia.org]. Which is a shit deal because as one can see by the picture it looks pretty interesting. Also the current prices aren't too bad. I saw $40 when I went. Must have been a special exhibit. Saw some Samurai war gear posters so maybe that was it. Then again maybe $18 is a crap price for what is offered. idunno, not art person.

          --
          http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @05:51PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @05:51PM (#542001)

        Baloney. Arizona has several art museums.

        Phoenix Art Museum http://www.phxart.org/ [phxart.org]
        Tucson Museum of Art https://tucsonmuseumofart.org/ [tucsonmuseumofart.org] (yes, it says "fart")
        Tucson Desert Art Museum http://www.tucsondart.org/home.html [tucsondart.org]
        Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson https://www.moca-tucson.org/ [moca-tucson.org]
        University of Arizona Museum of Art http://artmuseum.arizona.edu/ [arizona.edu]
        more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Arizona [wikipedia.org]

        • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Thursday July 20 2017, @06:01PM (1 child)

          by Lagg (105) on Thursday July 20 2017, @06:01PM (#542005) Homepage Journal

          Yes I too can google for museums in Arizona. But per above post I'm in Mohave County.

          --
          http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @08:57PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @08:57PM (#542056)

            That wasn't at all clear to me. I assumed that "AZ" meant the state of Arizona and that you were saying that there are few museums in the state, and that Kingman's model railroad museum is the pride of the state.

            Your county is close to Las Vegas, which is renowned for its vibrant art scene. For instance, late this afternoon there's the Drink 'n' Shrink SculpSure Event [allevents.in] at Las Vegas Laser and Lipo and in the evening there's Painting Live : The Airbrush Master [allevents.in] at the Skye Art Gallery (meet Paul Butvila!). Imagine that, lipo and airbrushing in one day.

            Tomorrow [allevents.in] it's free face-painting and balloon animals, then the Clark County Republican Party Celebration Dinner; and on Saturday, Daniel Miller's paintings of the Las Vegas homeless.

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday July 20 2017, @06:11PM (4 children)

        by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Thursday July 20 2017, @06:11PM (#542012) Journal

        Length and distance is relative. Yes, you're five hours from Getty in LA (which is worth the trip IMVHO,) but you're only a couple of hours from the NAU art museum and an hour and a half from Las Vegas.... I seem to recall there's a decent college art museum there but can't remember which one. And in between the two... spend three hours and slide down to Phoenix where you have any number of good art museums. ;)

        --
        This sig for rent.
        • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Thursday July 20 2017, @07:21PM (3 children)

          by Lagg (105) on Thursday July 20 2017, @07:21PM (#542028) Homepage Journal

          Hmmm, reread my OP and noticed I failed to include the disclaimer that I haven't been able to drive in some time due to old issues. Sorry about that. This is one reason I was in Denver in the first place. You can do mostly anything walking or ubering across town at worst. If I consider the expenses to get to Vegas and Phoenix it's either going to be for McCarren and surgery respectively :p

          This does remind me though: They closed the Greyhound station near the city limits. Now it's way the hell out on old 66. So next time I buy a nice $35 ticket it's going to be $35 to get to the pickup >:(

          --
          http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @09:15PM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @09:15PM (#542067)

            AC #542056 here. Sorry I replied before reading about your mobility problems. If you're near Kingman, there used to be an Amtrak station there. Maybe it's still open? Another idea: people were sharing rides before Uber and Lyft, maybe ride with someone who's actually going to one of those cities?

            • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:26PM (1 child)

              by Lagg (105) on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:26PM (#542086) Homepage Journal

              Don't worry, I avoid bringing up the issues as a whole anyway because they are not relevant except for in these kinds of scenarios and feels like a crutch when I do it. But yeah it's still open. But the rail goes towards socal I believe which I might use it for in a future trip instead of a flight. Amtrak-the-bus is actually still at the convenient location Greyhound used to be, but it doesn't go to the insanely convenient 200 S. Main dropoff that Greyhound does. I can find cheap hotel rooms too in case of emergency and Fremont is right there.

              Really just goes to show why this MMS thing is less silly than it initially looks. Even though I can't see myself being able to justify a trip for a museum I can certainly see texting one while on a bus going somewhere and no wifi. Since that's an ideal situation to enjoy some art and music.

              --
              http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @08:13PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @08:13PM (#542539)

                The Amtrak goes in the other direction too, to Chicago. I learned from Ferris Bueller's Day Off that there are excellent museums there.

      • (Score: 2) by darnkitten on Friday July 21 2017, @04:47AM (4 children)

        by darnkitten (1912) on Friday July 21 2017, @04:47AM (#542190)

        There are two museums in my county--one features stuffed hunting trophies, and the other has a two-headed lamb, a stuffed cryptid of some sort and the severed foot of a crippled outlaw (though that is in the process of being replaced by a 3D-printed copy, so the actual foot can be returned to the family for internment).

        We were supposed to get a geology museum and science center, but the geologist funding it lost his money when the market tanked and we lost both it and the town wifi he was financing.

        • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Friday July 21 2017, @05:12AM (3 children)

          by Lagg (105) on Friday July 21 2017, @05:12AM (#542198) Homepage Journal

          I hope the geologist in question wasn't one Mr. Fenton. He is the only formally recognized geologist I know of in AZ that does philanthropy (paid for kids field trips, food, most of rockhound course, owned tabletop game store, etc.) for the hell of it. Wouldn't deserve to lose his money to the market.

          Anyway, your museums sound badass. Linkage /or names would be appreciated if you're comfortable doing so.

          --
          http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
          • (Score: 2) by darnkitten on Friday July 21 2017, @06:08AM (2 children)

            by darnkitten (1912) on Friday July 21 2017, @06:08AM (#542225)

            Not your Mr. Fenton-though he sounds cool, and also not-at-all deserving of misfortune. Ours was a Pohl, or something like that. You know, I wasn't aware 'til now that geologists were wealthy enough for philanthropy. I'd always thought of 'em as a half step-up from prospectors...

            The museums are (Trophy Animals) The Twin Bridges Historical Society Museum, in Twin Bridges, Montana; (they actually have an active Facebook page, but I don't link to Facebook on general principles); and (Clubfoot George's foot), The Thompson Hickman Museum in Virginia City, Montana, which shares a building with the Thompson Hickman Memorial Library and Archives (the museum doesn't have an online presence, as far as I can find).

            I forgot that we also have Nevada City (pronounced ne-VAY-dah, according to the locals), which is a "ghost town" created by the Charles and Sue Bovey family from buildings and objects rescued from actual ghost towns in the state--they saved a lot of stuff from the depredations of time and looters and built a museum-esque "historic" mining town with over 100 buildings on the site of a former mining town. It, recursively, also has a museum, The Nevada City Museum & Music Hall, which houses the largest collection of coin-operated music machines in North America (and also does not have a website).

            • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Friday July 21 2017, @06:26AM (1 child)

              by Lagg (105) on Friday July 21 2017, @06:26AM (#542236) Homepage Journal

              I think it's just that geologists are always good to have around. I recall him mentioning that he worked for a mine. So I imagine stuff like that is lucrative. This part of AZ has something of a mining history and he was literally the only geologist I knew here face to face. Seems rather reliable for a STEM job in a rural area. I wonder if this is the same reason my surveyor friend doesn't seem to have many complaints.

              These sound cool though, I shall add them to the list. Thanks. Also it's pretty funny that you seem to have the same kind of tomato/tamato issue with Nevada that the state does. You'll see people get annoyed sometimes if you say ne-vah-dah or ne-vad-dah too. Interestingly Nevada City sounds a lot like a place we have named Oatman. It's not exactly a museum but it functions as one. And some of the goofiest gift shops ever. Or at least it was when I was there last like vialed sulfer/fart liquid, black candy that stains your teeth and is spicy, etc.

              --
              http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
              • (Score: 3, Interesting) by darnkitten on Friday July 21 2017, @09:35AM

                by darnkitten (1912) on Friday July 21 2017, @09:35AM (#542278)

                Our geology is supposed to be interesting to geologists, but I guess the area is mostly known for played-out mines--there are still a number of "active" mines and miners around (when metals are high), but they're usually barely break-even propositions. Nonetheless we are only 90 minutes from Butte, once "The Richest Hill on Earth," and this last winter the place where hundreds of snow geese died landing on its sulfuric-acid-laden lake.

                Nevada City is sort of an adjunct to Virginia City, a historical district, once the territorial capital, where Sheriff Jack Slade ran a gang of Road Agents, including one Clubfoot George, until some honest citizens formed a Vigilance Committee and hanged the lot of 'em.

                Or framed a bunch of innocent men to cover up their own banditry, depending on which side your family's descended from--and you'd best bear in mind which side you're talking to--It Does Matter. They do hold on to their grudges around these parts.

  • (Score: 2) by lx on Thursday July 20 2017, @07:21AM (2 children)

    by lx (1915) on Thursday July 20 2017, @07:21AM (#541844)

    People still use MMS?

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by LoRdTAW on Thursday July 20 2017, @11:45AM

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Thursday July 20 2017, @11:45AM (#541880) Journal

      Us old folk do.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by richtopia on Thursday July 20 2017, @09:46PM

      by richtopia (3160) on Thursday July 20 2017, @09:46PM (#542077) Homepage Journal

      It always frustrates me when friends send me MMS images: the resolution is always crap. With smartphones having multi megapixel cameras it seems silly to then deliver a sub-par image.

      I have a similar concern for this exhibit. MMS may be convent but it really doesn't help view the art.

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