Notes

Acquiring @

In an interesting conceptual move, The Museum of Modern Art in New York has acquired the @ symbol for its collection. Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design states:

The acquisition of @ relies on the assumption that physical possession of an object as a requirement for an acquisition is no longer necessary, and therefore it sets curators free to tag the world and acknowledge things that ‘cannot be had’ – because they are too big (buildings, Boeing 747s, satellites), or because they are in the air and belong to everybody and to no one, like the @ – as art objects befitting MoMA’s collection.

Antonelli’s piece, outlining the acquisition, is well worth reading, not least for its brief history of Ray Tomlinson - the inventor of email - and his appropriation of @, helping to elevate the the sign from symbol to icon.

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In addition to their role as lecturers in interactive design at the University of Ulster at Belfast, where they have been active in promoting a web standards-based curriculum, Christopher Murphy and Nicklas Persson are practicing designers and digital artists. Their work has featured in a variety of design books and magazines alongside numerous internationally respected designers and they are regular speakers at design conferences and workshops worldwide.

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