Ladies and gentlemen, start your cellphones.

On Sunday, the Chicago Sinfonietta played a new work with unusual instrumentation: the world premiere of the Concertino for Cellular Phones and Symphony Orchestra. During the performance, audience members were signaled to active phones by the illumination of colored lights — red for the balcony, green for the orchestra seats. The Sinfonietta's Music Director, Paul Freeman, discussed the work in the context of music with random elements, including pieces by John Cage and Charles Ives. However, the October 1st premiere was highly organized; the orchestra provided directions via email and in the program, and the conductor held a practice session before the performance.

To get a flavor for the music, you can view the Chicago Sinfonietta's television commercial featuring the Concertino.

Carnegie Museums have gone digital

Through the Art Collection Search, people can now browse the Carnegie Museums of Arts' collection online. I think this is a perfect segue to our Successful Digitization Projects Funded by the IMLS presented at the conference in October. After resolving some of their copyright issues, and following up on the statute of limitations for art (the artist's death + 70 years) the site is up!

No registration is required. Just go to the website and browse!

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And now for a battle of wits

British newspaper The Guardian is known for its famously difficult quizzes. Test your musical and historical knowledge with this pop quiz, written for a gala at London's Royal Opera House. After you submit your responses, the Guardian will display the correct answers. Study up and impress your friends with your newfound knowledge of obscure trivia.

Opera in the digital era

This week, the Metropolitan Opera announced it will broadcast live performances to movie theaters in the US, Canada, and Europe. The Met also plans to make more than 1,500 historical recordings available online through Rhapsody, a digital on-demand audio and video subscription service. Now that the Met has the rights to distribute both new productions and historic broadcasts on virtually all electronic formats, opera lovers can even watch streaming video of performances on the opera company's website. Read the full article here.

A growing number of opera companies are using technology to reach out to new audiences. According to DRoxy, a digital radio blog, the British opera company Hatstand Opera was the first to release opera podcasts, with its first edition of Podopera in the summer of 2005.

Pittsburgh in Top 25 Brainy Cities List...

Pittsburgh recently ranked 19th on a list of smart cities based on the percentage of its population age 25 and up with bachelor's degrees or higher. CNN.com featured a column today citing the recent U.S. Census Bureau rankings, released this month.

Read the full article.

Call us "blue collar" all you like, but this city has brains to go with its brawn.

Mood Affecting Artwork

This article, details how computer scientists from the U.S. and Britain have created an artwork whose palette will correspond to facial cues of an observer.

Oddly enough, the painting will turn somber when a frown is perceived or become playful when smiles are observed. I think they got it backwards; they should have made gruesome scenes when a face is observed to happy and vice versa... Just to keep the observers on the edge. Plus, do we always have to reinforce that happy is red and yellow, and sadness is blue and purple?

What I am waiting for is the ultimate marketing gimmick: the painting that changes all the time until it picks up on a smile, upon which time it stays stagnant. That way- the painting will be individually pleasant to everyone.

Music on the Brain...

I read a great article on Wired.com today about a new book by neuroscientist Daniel Levitin called This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. The book discusses our neurological reaction to music and examines why humans have loved music since cavemen were banging stones together. (Okay, I'm just assuming cavemen banged stones together for musical entertainment... that's not necessarily scientific fact.)

Read the full WIRED article.

Let us not forget the artists...

As we concentrate on the many ways arts managers are using technology innovatively, we should not ignore the fact that artists are also taking advantage of technology. A recent 'Wired' article features the Edgetone Music Summit, a four-day San Fransisco Bay event dedicated to experimental sound.

This might be my inner old man talking, but I'm wondering if a lot of technology-based "music" isn't just noise.

Read the full 'Wired' article.

Hexagram

I came across Hexagram while searching for arts and technology related material. Lucky them, they just won a fat grant from their mother state. Hexagram reaps rewards and recognition

Check out some of their projects. Hmmmm... Maybe they would be interested in presenting a session on technology based art???

Carnegie Museum of Art in New York Times

More great reasons to visit Pittsburgh this fall...the museums, pleasant autumn weather, and Technology in the Arts. For our out of town guests, sadly you'll miss the exhibition “Fierce Friends: Artists and Animals, 1750-1900” featured in the New York Times this week, but you will have an amazing choice of exhibitions to explore if you so desire. The Carnegie Museum of Art and Museum of Natural History are less than a five minute walk away from the Carnegie Mellon University campus. You can read more about upcoming exhibitions by clicking one of these links:

Carnegie Museum of Art schedule of exhibitions

Carnegie Museum of Natural History schedule of exhibitions

Or if you prefer to sit in a quiet area and decompress, visit the main branch of the Carnegie Library, also within walking distance from the conference.

As an aside, I'm from Texas where there are only two seasons: "humid" and "hot". Fall is a great time to be in the 'Burgh, especially for those of us from warmer climates...who knew seasons actually changed?! Last October, I saw for the first time in my life the changing of seasons from summer to autumn. It was a truly amazing display of color and shape, and perhaps something taken for granted by people who have seen it many times. May this October in Pittsburgh also bring you unexpected beauty.

Online Art Communities- Sales or Support?

Interact with Other Artists / Buy & Sell Artwork Like Never Before The Vision Grove is more than an online art gallery. Here you can also get involved in a vibrant art community and interact with artists and buyers from all over the world.

It begins with the above subheading... emphasizing the community aspect of the site, but then the release continues to inflate the sales potential of an online gallery. Although I understand the that the E.D. is directing his business to attract people interested in sales, the mission on his website seems to suggest the opposite:

From the press release: "The reasoning behind using art communities is fairly obvious: absolutely no pressure, gorgeous original art for sale, and instant connections with top-quality buyers and sellers."

From "Our Philosophy," it doesn't mention the sales opportunities once... It references an idea of growth.

I think this person is making the mistake of focusing on sales. The sales will happen through networking... but I doubt online. Art is about a tranformative experience. I cannot fathom the idea of buying a piece of art without having it in front of my face. Moreover, lots of artists like to establish relationships with the people they sell to, and vice versa. Art enthusiasts bask in a glory of superstarness when they can say they "know" the artist. Will this be accomplished over a web portal? I doubt it.

The website is sophisticated and clean... a rendition of a visual artist MySpace. The E.D. should generate enthusiasm about the aspect of networking and community and let the sales happen on their own. Web art communities are great and I think tech-saavy artists would really embrace this type of support. If it develops organically and with integrity, website advertisers will find their niche as it's represented on the site- not as it's projected.

What other web art communities are out there? Could we do something like this locally, with each arts agency acting as a host... beyond artist rosters?Š

Art in the future

An interesting article from last Wednesday's online edition of The Guardian

And a happy morning to you too

I consider myself relatively internet savvy, but admit I am hesitant to utilize some of the more recent computer based media. For example, I don't own a digital camera or mp3 player, my cell phone is pretty basic (no camera or Wi Fi capabilities) and my myspace profile is average at best (no video clips, rotating pictures or artistic graphics). While my technical skills could be significantly updated, it doesn't prevent me from enjoying the intelligent and clever accomplishments of others, particularly when it involves marketing methods and young audiences. Folgers has a snappy video clip on youtube.com that resonated with my typical morning -- I'm a full time graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University with frequent late night study sessions.

Folgers' commercial, called "Happy Morning", may never receive air time on television as it is only available on the Web. It's intended specifically for a younger demographic and those who count on the internet to supply the majority of their news and information. Dare I suggest these are the same folks attending our concerts, exhibits, workshops and performances?

I realized for-profit businesses are riding the technology wave for all its worth...what are non-profits and arts organizations doing to remain competitive? I'd personally love to see what your organizations are doing to attract new audiences, so if you have a neat video clip, Web site or blog to share, please send it to us!

A couple recent victories for us geeks...

Among the 100 new words just added to the new edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary are two very geekish items: Mouse potato (n) - an intensive computer user.

Google (v) - to use the Google search engine to retrieve online information.

As I've yet to get my copy of M-W's new edition, these definitions aren't taken directly from its pages. I usually wait until the dictionary's new edition drops in price (around November) before I make my annual trip to Wal-Mart to purchase my copy. I then spend a long weekend sipping brandy at fireside and reading every page of my new treasure.

It is amazing how something like Google can so rapidly capture the concsiousness of society that it becomes an official word in the English language. It was just eight short years ago that Google, Inc. first started its three-person office, based in a Menlo Park, CA, garage.

While an arts organization can't expect to become a dictionary word, this is further proof that technology is the fastest and most powerful way to connect with people. After all, "mouse potato" wouldn't be a word if there weren't tons of them out there just waiting to hear about your art. ;)

Geeks rejoice... we have two new rungs on the ladder of legitimacy!

It's a claim to fame

Bringing literature and art to the city of Steel Pittsburgh ranks as eighth most literate city and as third best mid-sized arts city

Pittsburgh was also ranked recently as one of the top livable cities in some report I read, in addition to having one of the highest rankings in cultural and arts organizations per capita. Over the weekend, I even heard that we have one of the best city fireworks show in the nation.

I'm always dubious of such statistics, but I do concede there is an essence of truth to such claims. Since moving here from California, I can attest to the following:

• Pittsburgh is affordable, pretty and in a great location.
• For a small (mid-sized?) city, there is an incredible amount of performance and visual venues, well-supported by the community, coupled with events and education outreach programs.
• The fireworks show was, well- average.

Statistics, reports, data or not... I am finding Pittsburgh to be a hospitable and fun home.

Colonial Attraction Using Latest Technology

At Colonial Williamsburg you expect to see a true historical representation of what life was like over two hundred years ago. At a living historical museum butter churns, horse drawn carts, and triangle hats are usual sights, but how about iPods? Colonial Williamsburg is one of the latest museums to use iPods to lead visitors along tours of the grounds. This device that has only been around for a few years has had a huge impact on how tours are conducted and accessed. Visitors can now hear the portrayal of Thomas Jefferson on an iPod as they cross the grounds as well follow audio tours. Pretty savvy for a museum that shows how life was without any modern conveniences like electricity. Read an article here. What do you think of the latest trends using iPod technology? Let us know!