Comments

1
Gotta have an Iphone and app to vote. Sad for us Luddites, for whom this typewriter is perfect.
2
"visual and creative people tend towards Apple products"

Wow. Bubblethink much? West Prize can go fuck itself.
3
THATS SO COOL!!
4
Now you can type ROY G. BIV for reals!

"We're gonna make some big decisions in our little world"—Bob Ross
5
Per 1 and 2: "If this year's test goes well, next year there will be more choices for voting." So, you restrict who can vote this year, and somehow magically know what to add for next year after you've annoyed and sent away everyone who doesn't have the most expensive tech available? Brilliant! I'll be sure not to check in next year for your expanded voting options for the uncreative plebians.
6
Does this device actually work? Did it really paint the picture in this photo? I'm a doubter.
7
That's the coolest thing I've seen in a month of Sundays...

8
@2, Ditto. So in order to vote, I gotta drop a few hundred on an iphone so I can then download and use the app? Also, what the hell were they thinking, this has got to be the most inefficient voting system ever created.
9
Hey there, I'm Tyree, the artist who created this piece, and I'm also totally dismayed at the iPhone/iPad/iPod only voting. I consider the requirement undemocratic to say the least. If it wasn't bad enough to limit voting to an app, the app is absolutely riddled with bugs and crashed or hangs more often than not.

There's something to be said about embracing emergent technology, but when all of us who have entered are facing a massive voting deficit because of a bad idea gone wrong, well... It stings. $25,000 is a big deal.

I hope you can still find a way to support the art you like. If it takes trying to get your two cents heard by contacting the West Collection folks directly, or attempting to leave a comment on the app download page, or whatever, please do so. Whatever the case may be, keep in mind that West Collects is still spending $300,000 a year on art. And for that, they deserve kudos. (Thanks, by the way Slog for posting this!)
10
My android kinda-smart phone cannot vote, but I love this, Tyree. Good luck!
11
anything that brings anything like JMW Turner into the world is a good thing - tres cool! and fuck the Iphone requirment for voting - it's the antithesis of the thing being voted on
12
@9 I'll vote for ya in spirit. :-(
13
I emailed them about this iPhone BS, and got this reply:

We have put up a statement on the application site trying to explain the decision to only build for one format, iPhone. Believe it or not, we only budgeted to build one app and did not have the budget to build this technology for each type of smartphone. If the voting turns out to be interesting this year we may add some other types of phones next year. When we did some research initially about doing an app most people we talked to said if you were only going to do one, try doing it on the Apple iPhone.

The main thing we have been trying to do is not spend all of our money to reach people on a phone or to focus on the voting aspect, but instead to save our funding for actually acquiring works. The iPhone popular vote winner would receive $25,000 but the balance of the $300,000 budget would go to acquiring works by interesting artists.

I hope that you would consider that we are a very small organization trying to collect interesting artists and that only about 10% (by budget) of the initiative is to do with your complaint.

What chaps my hide is that they have only a tiny bit of money to spend, so they BUILT AN APP? That's insane. They probably spent more on the app developer than the prize money is worth.
14
Our eldest, who who has synesthesia, loves it. She said, "This makes me feel happy about the world today."

Good luck, Tyree!
15
How cool, Kim! I was thinking about synesthesia when I first saw this today and wondering what a synesthete would make of it.

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.