New York museum adds @ symbol to design collection by Magdalena Rosova

New York's Museum of Modern Art has added the @ symbol to its architecture and design collection. The museum said it was a “design act.” Millions of people over the whole world are using the symbol every day when typing the email addresses or writing text messages on their cell phones. For the French, it reminds them of delicious escargot, but for most of us @ is an symbol of modern Internet age. Therefore it may may surprise you to hear that the symbol is thought to be centuries old. On Monday the Museum of Modern Art in New York announced it had added the @ symbol to its its architecture and design collection for “design power” of the symbol. T! he museum said the symbol was most probably ancient. Its origins can be back in the sixth century. During its existence the symbol changed meaning many times, of course. The New York's museum celebrated the @ symbol's variability and multiplicity of meaning. For Russians it symbolized a dog and for Finns a cat and today it is part of our e-mail communication. Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of the Department of Architecture and Design, stated in the museum's blog that the @ symbol is now part of our everyday life. Antonelii further wrote that @ symbol expressed society’s changing technological and social relationships. Even though the museum added the symbol to its collection, it does not mean it has ownership of the symbol. The symbol first time appeared in the e-mail in 1971. The first e-mail was sent by engineer Ray Tomlinson.

related story (sgx16838): http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100322/stage_nm/us_! usa_fine arts...

by Magdalena Rosova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

Cantell TV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with telecommunications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface coupled with free phone calls. Cantell TV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers.