Twitter art

I’ve become a patron of the arts.

In a very small way, using that smallest of communication tools, Twitter.

If you don’t know Twitter, it’s a means of sharing short messages with friends and contacts around the world (or around the corner).  The effect is rather like working in an open plan office, where you chat briefly about what you’re doing, or ask for help, or recommend something that you’ve seen or heard.

You can also overhear the discussions that your friends are having – and contribute to them if you want.  Or you can have the equivalent of a private convesation in the stationery cupboard. My latest “tweet” (sorry, but that’s what they’re called) is in the right hand column of this page.

But where does the art fit in?

twit2art#9

A Belgian artist called Jan Leenders has had a brilliant idea. You send him a tweet.  (This seems to be called a “twit” in what I presume is Flemish, which is just as bad a name, I think you’ll agree).

And he turns it – the actual words of the tweet – into a work of art.  A real, physical piece of art, on canvas – the picture above is of one he did earlier.

Even cleverer, the first one he did, he charged one euro.  The second, two euros, and so on.

Mine is number 39 in the list, so I’ll be paying 39 euros. 

I think it’s a really imaginative way of combining social media and art.  And, of course, if it catches on he’ll be selling later works for thousands of euros.

You can see the full list of tweets, and the works he’s completed at Twit2art.