MOMA “ACQUIRES” @ SYMBOL
The New York Daily News notes that the @ symbol—the ubiquitous round emblem that most of us associate with e-mail and tweeting—is now in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection, according to MoMA.
Because it’s part of the public domain, the museum didn’t pay for the acquisition. And though MoMA doesn’t plan to start collecting symbols, the museum will now use @ in its galleries, says Paola Antonelli, senior curator in MoMA’s department of architecture and design.
“Just like other objects in the collection, we will show it in our galleries on a rotating basis, in thematic or chronologic displays,” she said in an e-mail.
The acquisition is conceptual rather than physical, Antonelli said.
“We let our public know that @ is a great example of design, re-use, sustainability [and] elegance by placing it on the wall next to other great design examples, and by telling its story in the label, as we do for other objects in the collection,” she said.
