Have you seen the 14 foot high rusty ribs at Vanier Park and Sunset Beach, or the giant red pick up sticks in front of the Westin Bayshore and wondered what they're all about?

The answer is: The Vancouver Sculpture Biennale (www.vancouverbiennale.com), a public art festival featuring the work of some of the world's most acclaimed contemporary sculptors, such as Dennis Oppenheim, Bernar Venet, and Sorel Etrog. The pieces are on display in the parks, walkways, and plazas of Vancouver through to April 2007.
Since May 2006, thanks to an innovative new service called metroCode (www.metrocode.net) you've been able to use your cell phone to call up the sculptures and hear entertaining, informative commentary about the artworks, free of charge, and to vote for your favourite one. Vote tallies are featured bi-monthly in the local publication 24 Hours.
The idea behind the metroCode service, of which the Biennale cell phone tour is the launch event, is to add layers of contextualizing media to things we encounter in the city. Starting November 1st, the Vancouver Biennale Cell Phone Tour has added a number of features that let people get even more out of the experience of the public art exhibit. The new features include the ability to send and receive images and videos via your cell phone, and to 'leave and retrieve' text messages with comments about the art. "The addition of these multimedia capabilities to the Biennale cell phone tour allow the public to participate more fully in the experience of public art -- with pictures and videos of themselves and others captured right there on site -- and they can add their own digital graffiti to the artworks by leaving text messages with their comments about the sculptures that can be picked up by the next passerby", says cell phone tour producer Leora Kornfeld. The 22 pieces that make up the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale can be found in the high traffic areas of Kitsilano Beach, Vanier Park, English Bay, Devonian Park, Harbour Green at Coal Harbour, Queen Elizabeth Park, and the UBC Botanical Garden and will remain on display through April 2007.

metroCode is a member of the Mobile MUSE network, in partnership with the department of Canadian Heritage. For more information about the Biennale cell phone tour check out: www.metrocode.net or contact Leora Kornfeld at leora@ubiquityinteractive.com or 604.688.3508.