The What: Enplug has announced Enplug Art, an initiative to collaborate with contemporary artists and some of the world’s most notable museums to bring more than 1,000 artworks to Internet-connected displays and TVs. According to the company, this is the first initiative of its kind to bring professionally curated classic and contemporary art into established AV networks in corporate and academic settings, as well as Smart TVs in the home.
The What Else: Corporations, universities, and other large institutions often possess their own private art collections. Some pieces are displayed in lobbies and conference rooms, while more valuable works are often displayed in executive offices. Many works are kept in storage and rarely on display. Enplug Art is democratizing this process, enabling these institutions to feature artwork on any and all network-connected screens, without having to catalogue, store, and ship artwork between offices when rotating collections.
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In addition to bringing art into the workplace, Enplug is also bringing art into the home as a free service for anyone using Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick or Nvidia Shield to stream to their home televisions. Additionally, the latest-generation smart TVs can stream Enplug Art directly without requiring a standalone streaming device. With pervasive adoption of in-home internet-connected televisions, many household entertainment centers also double as their own digital signage network, capable of displaying the same works of art now available to institutional users of Enplug’s digital signage platform. Unlike consumer-grade “smart frames” that require purchase of a separate display, Enplug Art lets people display art on their existing smart TVs without any up-front or recurring costs.
Enplug Art is hardware-agnostic. Whether a user is a homeowner with a single TV or a corporate campus with a thousand endpoints, Enplug Art takes advantage of established digital signage networks and smart TVs already installed in the home. Simply create an account on Enplug, open your TV’s web browser, pair the TV (or TVs), and then activate the Art App to enjoy Enplug’s extensive collection of curated art in the home.
Enplug Art is also building a community of contemporary artists whose works will be featured on the platform. Through exclusive partnerships with Enplug, these contemporary artists now have access to a much vaster potential audience, showcasing their work to a diverse universe of individuals who appreciate art but aren’t necessarily plugged into the local art scene.
“Digital signage has traditionally been viewed as a medium reserved solely for corporate communication, but we’re breaking that mold and extending digital signage into the realm of art appreciation,” said Enplug CEO Nanxi Liu. “Bringing art into the workplace ensures that all screens are fully utilized, even when they’re sitting idle. And beyond this functional improvement, art brings immeasurable aesthetic value to professional venues in a way that nothing else can.”
The Bottom Line: Today’s contemporary art movement is evolving quickly as artists embrace new content distribution models. Enplug Art plays an important role in reviving connections by enabling artists to reach new followers outside of their direct orbit. In the same way Instagram increases artists’ digital reach beyond gallery walls, Enplug Art achieves a similar result by enabling them to display their work in homes and offices around the globe.
Enplug Art is free to existing institutional customers, and free to new home users. Organizations that currently subscribe to Enplug’s monthly or annual plans can activate the app at no charge. Home users simply sign up for a free Enplug Art home account to access the same vast collection of art available to Enplug’s business customers.
