Chicago Artists Create iPhone Masterpieces

By Veronica Murtagh in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 22, 2009 9:20PM

We've all entertained the Mac versus PC debate and seen both Apple and Microsoft commission known names in the art and design communities for special projects. Purists may argue art has no place in the corporate world, but artists themselves are welcoming the publicity of attaching their names to big brands, and the challenge of merging form with new, innovative functions.

The iPhone in particular has opened doors for artistic and technical creators. App development, including games, is a booming and in-demand industry. From the useful to the creatively quirky, designers and developers have found a niche that allows their imagination to run wild while making use of their professional skillset. Fine artists and graphic designers have been similarly called upon to lend their visual talents online and in collaborations with corporate brands, creating portable works of art.

Realizing the important doors technology opens for artists, Chicago Art Department program and exhibition coordinator, Mike Norse, led a class of ten local artists who combined talents in digital sketching, animation, photography, sound and video with the aim of a culminating group exhibition titled, iPhone Therefore I Am. Collaborating with national and international iPhone artists from as far away as Russia, Norway, Spain, France, and Germany, the local artists unveil their show and creations in the new year.

From Stanford's iPhone orchestra to the iPhone Therefore I Am exhibition, the groundbreaking phone has become a vehicle for presentation, creation and communication across the arts and you can view it in action firsthand on Friday, January 8 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Chicago Art Department, located at 1837 South Halsted. More info on the exhibition, including the full list of participating artists can be found here.