This article was published on March 22, 2010

The Museum Of Modern Art Just Acquired The @ Symbol For Its Collection


The Museum Of Modern Art Just Acquired The @ Symbol For Its Collection

The Museum of Modern Art is struggling for relevance it was revealed today, as the museum “has acquired the @ symbol into its collection. It is a momentous, elating acquisition that makes us all proud.”

What? How is that momentous, elating, or even an acquisition? How is it any of those things? My guess is that it is none of those things.

First of all, as the museum points out the @ symbol is public domain, so they can no more acquire the middle finger symbol. Still the museum has always “celebrated elegance, economy, intellectual transparency, and a sense of the possible future directions that are embedded in the arts of our time, the essence of modern.” So therefore, the @ symbol?

Not to be a cynic, but given that they have not actually acquired anything, and have instead created a whole lot of free press for themselves for nearly zero work, I must question their objectives. What does this do? How about nothing.

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The @ symbol will be behind the glass in some hallway at the MoMA. Go team.

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