MoMA Collaborations

Showcasing world renowned works from the Museum of Modern Art on the web

Type/Code has collaborated closely with the Museum of Modern Art on developing digital exhibition experiences for over six years, beginning with de Kooning: A Retrospective in 2011. Soon after the launch of de Kooning, MoMA’s operational constraints changed; all future digital works hosted by the museum were required to run as static applications. While giving museum curators open management of site content was still a requirement, the static app constraint eliminated the conventional Content Management approach using platforms such as Wordpress or Django. Instead, Type/Code authored an import syncing content and assets from private Google Spreadsheets into directories hosted by MoMA. On the front end, this imported content was displayed as expected within the application’s structure, built from a series of flexible templates. Proving a successful solution, this implementation method was used in four subsequent companion sites for MoMA exhibitions.

Isa Genzken: Retrospective

Created in collaboration with MoMA’s in-house design team, Retrospective guides users through 40 years of Genzken’s work through multi-directional galleries, map exploration, and an in-depth chronology.

Paul Gauguin: Metamorphoses

Through development features such as layered content and comparative galleries, Metamorphoses explores Gauguin’s evolving, medium-reactionary depictions across common themes. Created in collaboration with the design firm Kiss Me I’m Polish.

Audiences can explore and compare works from Paul Gauguin.

Claes Oldenburg

On View details four bodies of Oldenburg’s work, discovered across a horizontally scrolling timeline. Created in collaboration with the design firm Kiss Me I’m Polish.

A horizontal navigation system showcases four collections from Claes Oldenburg.

MoMA Digital Books

As another tool for MoMA’s curators, Type/Code built the Digital Books interface – a highly manageable application running locally on tablets placed within the many of the museum’s exhibits. Like the companion websites that preceded it, Digital Books faced strict operational constraints – including offline application run and compatibility with a variety of multi-touch devices. Type/Code chose to run Digital Books out of Kiosk Pro, utilizing its local mode to upload and store artwork and to display the Digital Books interface. A JSON file located in each instance of the application, accessible to museum staff, could then be configured to alter the organization and expression of all the artwork stored within. On the front end, Digital Books was developed to work beautifully on multi-touch devices like the iPad and Surface – giving MoMA visitors another accessible window into the work of the museum’s featured creators. It has been used in multiple MoMA exhibitions including Alibis: Sigmar Polke, Gauguin: Metamorphoses, and Inventing Abstraction.

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