Big Art Mob – Project Aims to Map a Global Collection of Public + Street Art

Paris (via streetartblog)

Art created for the sole intent of eliciting surprise and delight- often with anonymity – makes the world a more creative place. A story on NPR caught my eye yesterday – about a project that aims to help map these works on a global scale. I’m intrigued. I’ve explored the concept of social art on this blog and publicly many times. It’s happening everywhere now. Creating an app to bring together the global street art community? And then grow it? This fits my definition of the concept of social art. Brilliant. Click through the image tabs above to see some examples of street + public art from around the world today.

Created in 2006, Big Art Mob’s founder Alfie Dennen is re-launching a global public + street art mapping site along with iPhone and iPad applications. Big Art Mob has 12,000 pieces in its database so far and is looking to grow that collection. The site invites users to upload and map public art anywhere in the world. The intent is to share a massive range of art – from a public museum piece or wall of graffiti to something small creative and surprising. “We’re not setting out to create huge canonical work which defines explicitly what is and isn’t art in the public realm. We want to de-fragment how public art is documented and talked about, making a global hub for public art discovery,” says Dennen.

The site, still in a beta phase, encourages anyone, anywhere to discover any form of public art (from graffiti to outdoor sculptures by established artists) and tag it to a map.

BAM is also aiming to contribute to the street art community by enabling people to create their own walking routes, or for their favorite artist, and share these with others via the iPhone/iPad app.
Dennen and BAM aim to raise funds by partnering with art institutions and by creating paid walking routes on its app. Another avenue is via an API available to third parties who wish to make use of its Point Of Interest database.

The project is still in a beta phase – but you can contribute HERE.

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Note: I gave a talk, the PhotoPlus keynote in NYC on the concept of Social Art. A bit dated now (Fall 2010)- but interesting to look back on if social art intrigues you.