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SMoCA Goes Cellular for Tour
SMoCA
Though cell phones are often forbidden inside museums, this is not the case at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art [SMoCA]. Beginning February 8, (on the occasion of the Museum's spring Opening Reception), visitors will be able to use their cell phones to call a special number and hear short messages from the artists and curators about the artworks on view. This special behind-the-scenes information is provided free of charge, for only a visitor's use of cell-phone minutes. The recordings will also be available as podcasts on SMoCA's website, www.smoca.org.
With the convenience and familiarity of your cell phone, you will be able to hear artists, curators, architects and other international guest-speakers talk to you about the work on view at SMoCA-the kind of access you only usually receive if you are part of a private VIP tour! Hear Will Bruder discuss the architecture of the building; hear New York-artist Lyle Ashton Harris talk about his unusual photographic processes; or hear Phoenix-artist Melinda Bergman talk about the inspiration for her Lilliputian installation.
The best part? The cell-phone technology allows guests ultimate control over what they choose to hear, when they decide to hear it and in what order. Museum visitors can even opt to keep the useful menu of selections handy for later. SMoCA Director Susan Krane says, "We hear time and time again that visitors want personal, direct access to the artists and want to know how museums work. Now this technology allows our audiences virtual proximity-at any time and any day-to those who create the artwork on view and those who work behind the curtain. The cell-phone tours are short, simple to use and wonderfully informative. This is a way of having your own private museum concierge at hand. These audio tours, along with SMoCA's fabulous team of docents, give our audiences the chance to engage with art on yet another interpersonal level. We often jokingly say that contemporary art is not an inanimate object: the cell phone tours further animate the visitor's experience of dynamic art."
The process is easy: you dial a main number and follow the prompts to enter key codes that connect you with various audio selections, each about 60 seconds long. Guests can learn about subjects as diverse as the purpose of the Museum with director Susan Krane; the building's renovation from architect Will Bruder; or the thought processes and intentions of stellar artists from around the globe. For instance, if the Car Culture exhibition piqued your curiosity about how photographer Amy Stein was able to find stranded motorists, you can hear her story in a wonderful recording by the artist. If a guest wants to find out more about the strange and beautiful cylindrical white room with the oval hole cut out to the sky, the cell phone tour provides several selections especially devoted to the beloved James Turrell "skyspace," with expert commentary by the director of the Scottsdale Public Art Program, Valerie Vadala Homer. Want to know how long it took to unpack and assemble that Hummer vehicle made of cloth and string? A simple selection on a cell phone gives visitors the story straight from the museum's preparatory who put the sculpture together! The options of the technology provide limitless potential for each guest to shape a unique experience. SMoCA enthusiastically invites the public for a visit to use their cell phones inside the Museum walls soon.
SMoCA's cell phone audio tours are generously made possible by Beverly and N. Bud Grossman, Nancy and Art Schwalm and Karen and John Voris.
With the convenience and familiarity of your cell phone, you will be able to hear artists, curators, architects and other international guest-speakers talk to you about the work on view at SMoCA-the kind of access you only usually receive if you are part of a private VIP tour! Hear Will Bruder discuss the architecture of the building; hear New York-artist Lyle Ashton Harris talk about his unusual photographic processes; or hear Phoenix-artist Melinda Bergman talk about the inspiration for her Lilliputian installation.
The best part? The cell-phone technology allows guests ultimate control over what they choose to hear, when they decide to hear it and in what order. Museum visitors can even opt to keep the useful menu of selections handy for later. SMoCA Director Susan Krane says, "We hear time and time again that visitors want personal, direct access to the artists and want to know how museums work. Now this technology allows our audiences virtual proximity-at any time and any day-to those who create the artwork on view and those who work behind the curtain. The cell-phone tours are short, simple to use and wonderfully informative. This is a way of having your own private museum concierge at hand. These audio tours, along with SMoCA's fabulous team of docents, give our audiences the chance to engage with art on yet another interpersonal level. We often jokingly say that contemporary art is not an inanimate object: the cell phone tours further animate the visitor's experience of dynamic art."
The process is easy: you dial a main number and follow the prompts to enter key codes that connect you with various audio selections, each about 60 seconds long. Guests can learn about subjects as diverse as the purpose of the Museum with director Susan Krane; the building's renovation from architect Will Bruder; or the thought processes and intentions of stellar artists from around the globe. For instance, if the Car Culture exhibition piqued your curiosity about how photographer Amy Stein was able to find stranded motorists, you can hear her story in a wonderful recording by the artist. If a guest wants to find out more about the strange and beautiful cylindrical white room with the oval hole cut out to the sky, the cell phone tour provides several selections especially devoted to the beloved James Turrell "skyspace," with expert commentary by the director of the Scottsdale Public Art Program, Valerie Vadala Homer. Want to know how long it took to unpack and assemble that Hummer vehicle made of cloth and string? A simple selection on a cell phone gives visitors the story straight from the museum's preparatory who put the sculpture together! The options of the technology provide limitless potential for each guest to shape a unique experience. SMoCA enthusiastically invites the public for a visit to use their cell phones inside the Museum walls soon.
SMoCA's cell phone audio tours are generously made possible by Beverly and N. Bud Grossman, Nancy and Art Schwalm and Karen and John Voris.