Mobicapping: Mobile Image Capture in The New Century

Definition: mobicapping is the new creative and technological practice borne of the instant
capture and immediate international distribution potential of images, movies, and sounds via
cell phones and other portable electronic devices. An international online exhibition curated by
Scott F. Hall and E. Brady Robinson.

Today, we record temporal moments with our cell phones and other small mobile devices which
exist now and which are incessantly soon to be invented. The cell phone and its like, however
do not elicit familial bonding as it has been in the past with the snapshot. There has been a
marked cultural shift; our moments are more empty, more banal. Yet, paradoxically, we find
ourselves and our experiences so much more interwoven--so much more widely shared--today
than in any age prior. Such moments can now be found throughout the Internet. Instead of
having a shell life in a shoebox stowed away in the family closet, our images and moments
quickly move between emails, websites and even podcasts. But, where is all the art in this
instantly local, regional, national, and international sharing? And, what do we call it?

We feel that this new form of image sharing in the 21st century is best described with a new
term: mobicapping. Mobicapping means: mobile image capture (still, moving, and/or with
sound). Those who participate in mobicapping--virtually all of us--are no longer photographers
but are more accurately to be called mobicappers. Together, we are sending out a call for
experimentation and exploration of the potential of the art of the mobicapper. The exhibition
that we propose here will feature artists who are investigating this completely new creative
and technological practice

Exhibition opens 15 August – 15 September 2006 on www.mobicapping.com

Click here to download pdf version of mobicapping