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"THE CELLPHONE AS ART VENUE"

BY BARRY NEWMAN

(WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2-16-2005)

Louise Bourgeois, William Wegman, David Salle and Nam June Paik, world-renowned art innovators, have gained a new outlet for their video art: the cellphone. Nokia Corp., the Finnish phone maker, has commissioned a set of videos to be downloaded like ringtones and gazed upon whenever the spirit calls.

"So many stars make work that can rarely be seen," says Juha Hemanus, who is assembling the video art for Nokia in Helsinki. "This makes it possible to bring works by big names to cellphone users."

Owners of art-enabled phones can collect video originals from Nokia's Web site, www.Nokia.com/art. (The site also has a list of phone models that are video-compatible.) Nokia won't say how much it pays the artists. For customers, the works are free.

Cellphones can play music and take pictures. But do people want to contemplate a cellphone? Nokia believes art can be part of every digital day. The challenge of art on cellphones, says Mr. Hemanus, is: "How long do people want their cellphone art to be?" Nokia's answer is 25 seconds.

The marketing artistry in cellphone art, though, is about exclusivity. Works can't be forwarded or copied, and come in limited editions of 3,000. A Web site counter clicks off each download.

Cellphone art is still searching for its signal. The four New York-based artists who accepted commissions—Messrs. Wegman, Salle and Paik, and Ms. Bourgeois—have had no downloads.

- WSJ, 2-16-2005.

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