IPhone art
iPhone art is a form of interactive art that takes place on the screen of the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch - deliberately distinct from pictures painted with mobile apps such as Brushes or Procreate. It grew out of screen-based interactive works that ran on gallery walls and PC monitors in the 1990s and 2000s: once the App Store opened, artists could port those experiments into downloadable, portable pieces. Pioneers included Miltos Manetas and Memo Akten, Theo Watson's FATTAG, Scott Snibbe's Gravilux and Bubble Harp, and Golan Levin's Yellowtail; some reached bestseller status in the App Store's Entertainment charts. David Hockney, Corliss Blakely, and Meri Aaron Walker have exhibited work made entirely on Apple handhelds, and Damon Albarn created all the artwork for the Gorillaz album The Fall on his iPad. Direct distribution through the store also unsettled the gallery's gatekeeping role.
Defining characteristics
- Artworks delivered as interactive apps running on a touch screen
- The work lives on the device screen rather than as a static image
- Touch, tilt, and gesture input are part of the artwork itself
- Direct distribution to the public through the App Store, bypassing galleries
- Roots in 1990s-2000s screen-based interactive art shown on PCs and gallery displays
- Playful generative systems - particles, paint, tagging - explored as art
Key figures
- Miltos Manetas (b. 1964) — Greek multimedia artist among the first iPhone artists, known for the JacksonPollock website readymade
- Scott Snibbe (b. 1969) — Interactive media artist whose apps Gravilux and Bubble Harp brought gallery interaction to the device
- David Hockney (1937-2024) — Exhibited drawings and paintings made entirely on iPhone and iPad
- Damon Albarn (b. 1968) — Musician who created all artwork for the Gorillaz album The Fall on his iPad
Example works
- The Fall — Gorillaz (Damon Albarn) (2010)
- Gravilux — Scott Snibbe (2010)
Sources
- IPhone art - Wikipedia encyclopedia