[Interview] Saatchi Art and Samsung The Frame Art Store Take Virtual Art to a Next Level
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By STF News
To put art before the eyes of consumers, Samsung partnered with The Belvedere to release globally renowned works of art including art pieces by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele in the Samsung Art Store. As consumers continue to be enthralled by both physical and digital art, this partnership expanded access to some of the world’s most notable works of art.
While the adoption of technology within the art space is inevitable, widespread adoption of technology poses an important challenge: how to expand works of art digitally without taking away from the uniqueness of their physical form. For consumers, technology can break barriers and change how art is consumed. It can also provide a look into the future of art as the blending of the physical and digital art worlds occurs.
Samsung Newsroom recently sat down with Wolfgang Bergmann, CFO of The Belvedere to discuss how this partnership is paving the way for continued digital growth within the art space while still preserving the culture and richness of physical art.
▲ The Belvedere by Lukas Schaller
Q: Briefly tell us about your work at The Belvedere.
Our mandate is to set the course for The Belvedere, which is one of the oldest museums in the world, and a showcase for contemporary art. In that task, we are faced with the challenge of preserving the past while also being forward-looking and breaking new ground, and this is what makes our job so exciting.
Q: The intersection of art and technology has grown significantly in recent years, paving the way for the democratization of art, and it seems especially evident in its creation and accessibility. What is your take on this? How has this provided opportunities and/or challenges in the art world today?
The Belvedere aspires to be one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the digital world, thereby reaching new audiences. Today, around half of the Belvedere collection is available online. Those interested in art can easily research the museum’s inventory and scroll through 900 years of art history, from the Middle Ages to the present day. However, I am convinced that this will only increase their desire to visit Vienna and The Belvedere in person.
Q: Technology also makes art more convenient and accessible to collectors. How have you seen this play out over the years?
Digital art space is getting easier to access, especially through NFT technology. However, this won’t replace classical art but rather add to it. Quite recently, we decided the time was right to undertake a unique NFT project, and a centerpiece of The Belvedere’s collection — The Kiss by Gustav Klimt — was unveiled in the new format.
▲ The Kiss (Lovers) (1908-1909) by Gustav Klimt
Q: Digital art displays, such as Samsung Art Store, have allowed users to enjoy unique experiences from the comfort of their homes. How do you see this technology playing out in the coming years and what sort of impact will it have in the art industry as a whole?
I think this technology definitely arouses interest in art and enhances the experience of appreciating the original piece. Owners and viewers of the digital image can form a personal connection to the original artwork.
Q: What differences do you see between displaying your work in-person vs. digitally on The Frame?
A screen cannot replace the aura of the original piece. At the end of the day, The Frame and the Art Store invite people to see the original in the museum. On the other hand, museum visitors who have admired an original work of art on-site will be happy to bring it digitally into their living room. Modern screens are so technically advanced that you may discover things digitally on The Frame that you could not see with the naked eye in a museum.
Q: How do you envision the future of art exhibitions and museums?
Art exhibitions will continue to exist online and offline. The metaverse is becoming a part of our life, but it’s not a substitute for “real” life. The physical visitor experience in a museum will therefore always remain important.
▲ In the Bower (ca. 1901) by Marie Egner
Q: Can you tell us more about how this partnership came to be? Why did you choose The Frame? From your perspective, what are the benefits of Samsung Art Store?
We were thrilled by the idea of bringing our collection to new formats, like Samsung Smart TVs, in order to give people access to art in their own living rooms. The Samsung Art Store provides visual variety on the screens, you can choose pictures according to the seasons or your personal mood, and you can always discover something new. Samsung leads the industry in technological innovation, so the Samsung Art Store is the right partner for us.
Art pieces from the Belvedere collection on the Samsung Art Store are viewed many times a month. I am sure that the viewers are influenced by the artworks, consciously or unconsciously.
▲ Brushwood Collector in the Vienna Woods (1855) by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
Q: Some of Belvedere’s most popular works in the Art Store include In the Bower by Marie Egner, The Kiss by Gustav Klimt and Blooming Poppies by Olga Wisinger-Florian. Are these also popular for museumgoers and are there any other pieces in the collection in the Art Store that you foresee gaining more mainstream popularity?
Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss is an icon piece of romantic love and a centerpiece of The Belvedere’s collection — people all over the world are smitten with it. Landscapes and nature motifs are also especially popular, both online and offline. As for increasing popularity, I see paintings by female artists from around the turn of the century, such as Broncia Koller-Pinell or Emilie Mediz-Pelikan, continuing to rise, as well as more works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele.
I would recommend some autumn motifs, such as Brushwood Collector in the Vienna Woods (1855) by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller and Orange Grove on the French Riviera (1903) by Broncia Koller-Pinell.
▲ Orange Grove on the French Riviera (1903) by Broncia Koller-Pinell
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By STF News
Since its launch in 2017, Samsung Art Store allows for extraordinary, one-of-a-kind art selections to be accessible to consumers from the comfort of their own homes.
Traversing both the impenetrable jungle of the Ecuadorian Amazon to the bustling city of Santiago de Chile, Alberto Montt’s work, which reflects his experience and emotions as gleaned from everyday life, has been featured on Samsung Electronics’ Art Store since 2019, gaining him popularity from fans around the world.
Montt is known in particular for his experimental approach to art, which combines different elements to create a new way for people to enjoy his work. With the rising popularity of digital art forms and new mediums, Samsung Newsroom sat down with Montt to discuss his work and the meaning of digital art.
▲ Alberto Montt
Q: Can you please introduce yourself?
I am a Latin American storyteller. Illustration is my second language. I have about 30 published books, and I do standup performances that mix elements of spoken and graphic language. I am inspired by everyday life and emotional memory, which allows me to relate to the day to day.
Q: Your pieces are known to present cultural and contradictive statements through youthful illustrations. Where does your inspiration for this come from?
Art should force you to think and to question your position in this world. When art does not challenge you, it is pure decoration.
Q: As a storyteller and an illustrator, you utilize digital art as a means to interact with your audience. What can you say about its growing popularity and what are some of the benefits it brings to the art community?
It features multiple mediums, which comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Digital art is a tremendously complex tool that allows communication to be explored from virtually an infinite number of possibilities.
Q: How has your own artwork evolved as digital art and as technology has advanced? Are there any notable changes in your life that were deeply impacted by innovations in technology?
The biggest impact technology has had on my life was allowing me to move around the world while working. These days, I am able to take my workshop and my studio with me wherever I go.
▲ Alberto Montt during his standup performance
Q: Let’s talk about your partnership with Samsung Art Store. What type of role do you think it plays in the evolving, digital art world?
Being part of the Art Store has allowed me to reach a diverse and global audience in a way that no other platform I know can offer. Being able to exhibit digital art with the value it deserves is an achievement that only technology has allowed. With my own Art Store on The Frame, the images I see change very often, and my whole space is consequently altered and delineated by that randomness and diversity.
Q: Are there any advantages of displaying art on screens such as The Frame?
Absolutely. The range of colors and lighting of the screen completely modify the relationship between the viewer and the work. For me, it has been very exciting to plan the works that will enter the Art Store from that perspective. I would love to see how they are observed and “lived” within people’s everyday spaces.
Q: Can you introduce three of your favorite pieces on the Art Store?
Tigre is a visual exercise that takes me back to my childhood. I grew up in the Ecuadorian jungle and although there are no tigers, the idea of the foliage and the innumerable colors and shades of green moves me deeply.
▲ “Tigre”, Alberto Montt
Laberinto is another one of my favorites. It’s a work that seeks, from graphic simplicity, to represent the complexity of human relationships.
▲ “Laberinto”, Alberto Montt
Beso is an illustration that is part of a book published in Colombia that discusses curiosity and emotional awakening. This is the picture I like the most from that book, perhaps because it also has that vegetal exuberance.
▲ “Beso”, Alberto Montt
Q: Finally, where do you see the future of digital art headed?
For me, art is a game that is constantly changing. That reinvention excites me. It is that surprise that keeps me alive.
To see more of Montt’s latest art pieces, including Beso, head to the Art Store on Samsung’s The Frame.
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By BGR
Samsung is trying to make its SmartSSD even smarter. The company recently unveiled the second generation of its computational SSDs. Samsung says the new SmartSSD will process data faster and reduce latency between the SSD and the CPU. This should help cut down on concerns about the CPU bottlenecking the speed at which the SmartSSD performs.
New Samsung SmartSSD can process your data 50% faster, Samsung claims
Samsung says that its new SmartSSD can process data 50% faster than the previous generation. It also uses 70 percent less power and reduces CPU utilization by 97 percent compared to standard SSD devices. That means the new SmartSSD should allow you to make use of your frequently accessed data without any bottlenecking.
This isn’t Samsung’s first foray into computational storage, either. As noted above, this is the company’s second generation SmartSSD. The first offering wasn’t bad, offering some improvements over traditional storage options. However, with the new features and technology that Samsung’s SmartSSD now offers, you can expect it to push the bar a bit more. Samsung also has a long history with SSDs.
Making gains
Image source: Samsung One of the ways that Samsung’s new SmartSSD improved upon traditional is by removing the need to process information access on the CPU. It does this thanks to a system built into the SSD itself. AMD Xilinx Versal FPGA powers the SSD.
Essentially, AMD Xilinx Versal FPGA allows Samsung’s SmartSSD to skip sending data to other components to process. It’s a good move, and one that’s proving to be useful, especially in systems where data movement is important.
For the moment, Samsung’s SmartSSD is more geared towards the AI/ML inferencing market. That means users who rely on analytics and transcoding will be able to rely on the faster speed of the SmartSSD to be able to process their data quicker. For now, the new system is being pushed for commercial use. It’s unclear exactly when they might become more individualized.
For now, though, Samsung is showing some noticeable gains in a market where users might not see much of a problem. However, with data processing becoming more important for different companies, it’s important to streamline the process as much as possible.
The post Samsung’s new SmartSSD boasts up to 50% faster processing times appeared first on BGR.
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