The Chicago Art Department’s iPhone Art Class

The Chicago Art Department, a nonprofit arts organization, is conducting a five-week class focusing on iPhone art. Eight students are tasked with completing a project using any iPhone based medium (digital painting, photography, music, video etc.).  An exhibit, opening on January 8, will showcase the work of the class.

The New York Times talks to Mike Nourse, cofounder of The Chicago Art Department:

“We’ve always been rooted in accessible art,” Mr. Nourse said. “The idea that people could create art with something in their pocket — that seemed like something we needed to tackle.”

And although it may seem unusual, creating artwork with something so simple they see the limitations and convenience as the best part:

Nathan Peck, a Chicago Art Department co-founder who is taking the iPhone art class, said the phone’s shortcomings — tiny lens, small number of pixels — are part of what makes it a compelling artistic tool.

“It has built-in limitations,” he said. “But you can choose to use the limitations of the tool as part of the art-making process. That limitation — whether it’s using this device, or being asked to make art about a certain city, or shape an idea — it becomes what holds otherwise disparate art together.”

New York Times: “A Class Reaches Out and Touches High-Tech Art”