The Museum of Modern Art has acquired the “at symbol.” From their Inside/Out blog:

The acquisition of @ … relies on the assumption that physical possession of an object as a requirement for an acquisition is no longer necessary, and therefore it sets curators free to tag the world and acknowledge things that “cannot be had” … as art objects befitting MoMA’s collection.

As a fan of mental gymnastics, I’m all for this sort of thing. Even so, I’ll admit that an eye-roll was my initial reaction. MoMA acquiring anything so “internet-y” seemed silly and publicity-driven, as if done to ensure an instantly “viral” buzz. But their exploration of the symbols history, and their follow-up post “@ in Context: Criteria for an Acquisition” put it on pretty solid ground.

Besides, this is great news in our era of rampant deaccessioning! Now underfunded museums can just acquire all that stuff that is, as MoMA puts it – “is in the air and belong to everybody and to no one.”