Pig from Bath, England. Photo Credit: Marcio Cabral de Moura
Proprietary digital art collections make me mad. As do all the art resources online that cost money. It’s my open source, information should be free, mentality, I guess. I understand that everyone needs to make a living, and that it takes time and resources to put together and maintain a digital collection. I don’t have an answer to this paradox. But I didn’t say I did. Nevertheless it makes me mad.
Here is an example: The art-public.com online library. As described on its website it “focuses on the role of art in urban projects. Recent creations and works in progress are organized by category and illustrated with examples from around the world, with an emphasis on the principal cities of Europe.” The website also claims that “all subjects feature examples of artwork with commentary and color photo illustrations.” A list of the types of works included is at the end of this article.
With respect to the main subject of Ofness, the searchability of the art in the collection, the following information is provided. “Information is stocked in a database structured around three index fields – artist, location and commissioning sponsors – which provide access to representative articles including practical description of artwork (artist, title, year, location…). This information is complemented by a collection of images. Each work of art is illustrated with up to six color photos; commentary is provided in several languages. Through the SIGAP [System of Information and Administration of Public Art] system, the database can be accessed via keywords.” [click to continue…]
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