I took a trip uptown last week to have a look at what gif. files look like on gallery walls (rather than on a monitor). Needless to say, they look bigger. And brighter. I'm really not sure whether they look better - but then again, art doesn't always look it's best out of context, does it?
The Saatchi Gallery seem to have dressed up an expensive marketing campaign as a progressive art exhibition. The Motion Photography Prize, in association with Google+ and Saatchi Art, is a global, open entry competition celebrating this new medium. This celebration comes alongside a new gif making app from Google+, and all around the opening space were reminders. An impressive line-up of judges were called (Baz Luhrmann, Shezad Dawood, Tracey Emin and Cindy Sherman) to pick a winner - but the majority of guests at the opening were more interested by the free booze. I mean, everyone at art openings is interested in free booze - but this art opening was especially booze-focused.
The evening was absolutely packed and there was definitely an excitement in the air - perhaps it was because there's something that feels really exciting about welcoming a new art medium into public consciousness. The works themselves didn't seem particularly exciting, but the snippets of overheard conversation among guests certainly were. The winner of the prize, Christina Rinaldi, was shaking with excitement when I chatted to her, however. SHe seemed quite bemused by the whole situation, and it was a pleasure to congratulate her.
