ArtBabble

ArtBabble is an arts-focussed video site created by the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA):

It is intended to showcase video art content in high quality format from a variety of sources and perspectives

If a comparison helps, it’s much more an artsy TED than it is a YouTube (users can’t submit vids for a start).

So far all the content comes from the IMA – the idea is that other museums and galleries will come on board as partners further down the line. For now, there’s still a fair number of videos (many with transcripts and supporting information) to be going on with. Illuminations‘ review covers the types of content available.

With the site still in beta it’d be daft for me to pick too many holes. However, my first thought was that although ArtBabble has the feel of a social network, there’s currently no means to find or interact with other users aside from leaving comments under videos.

Also, although the site has a news page, the ArtBabble Facebook Page seems to be the best place to get regular information at the moment. By contrast the IMA blog is very good and an example of how to do this sort of thing well.

It’ll be good to see how the site develops. It’s an interesting project and also a sign that the IMA is looking for new ways to engage with its visitors (and others further afield) and provoke conversations around their collection. That’s definitely to be applauded.

Thanks to Pete at New Curator for sending me an invite. I’ve got 5 of my own to dish out – drop a comment below if you want one.