At Northern Voice this year Darren Barefoot led a discussion surrounding online art — mostly just asking the question of where are the great works of online art? The most common theme was that of the collection, where curation and organization are what makes online art. Some examples are mashup music and the Big Picture photo blog.

I wanted to expand on another idea that was briefly brought up. Most people would agree that art is personal and one of my favourite quotes is that “art is for making people feel less alone.” Following that, what if art was very personal? Some services that can provide this for you are Last.fm or Apple's Genius. For Last.fm, it builds a database of your preferences based on the kinds of music you most commonly listen to and the music that you ‘favourite’. It then compares your preferences to that of the wider community to help bring you custom playlists with new music. Here, the art is in building a playlist that can mean something to you.

Last.fm, to me, is somewhat hit or miss, but here is what Last.fm just did for me (don't watch the videos, just listen, hopefully it's raining where you are).

It is raining outside and I turn on Last.fm. As I'm getting my umbrella out, walking down the steps, crossing the street, and walking through the mushy park up to the bus stop, this is playing:

(Fila Brazillia – Place de la Concorde)

Then as I hop on the bus, which is mostly silent and wet, this is playing...

(Blockhead – A Better Place)

It takes me to my stop where I get out and wait with another dripping woman for the elevator.

As soon as I enter my apartment, the following starts playing. It's warm, and fun but still sounds like rain:

(People Under the Stairs – Time To Rock Our Shit)

Sometimes technology can bring a little nuance.