As part of the Cooper Hewitt's exhibit on contemporary design (Design USA), a guide is avilable on an iPod touch. Designed by 2x4, it's a cool way to learn more about the work but, like a digital coffee table book, it functions more as a complement to the exhibit rather than a true guide, which makes it all the more disappointing that you can't take it home (or at least download the app from the store). After pausing in front of various pieces to look them up on the iPod, I gave up trying to marry the two and settled into a spot in the atrium where I could relax and look through the pieces on the iPod independent of their physical presences in the museum.

All the same, I was happy to see audio guides distributed on an mp3 device. A few years ago I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei. A computer was set up in the lobby to let visitors download audio guides onto their mp3 players. I was glad for the opportunity not only to access the guide on a device I already owned, but also for the opportunity to take it home.

I've long wished that more museums would follow suit, even going so far as to offer dowloads on their websites. Often, I find that I don't necessarily want to listen to the audio guide while I'm experiencing the art, but would like to listen to it afterwards, after I've internalized what I have seen.

I still find myself listening to the guide I downloaded in Taiwan on the odd occasion. And I would love to have a copy of the audio guide offered by the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, if only to hear the way it introduces the bronzes. And how much fun would it be to be able to listen to Roger Moore narrate a visit to the Forbidden City from your own city?

I've been trying to motivate this weekend to edit my photos from Uzbekistan. As usual, it's taking me a little bit of time to even begin looking at them. I'm always disappointed when I first get my contact sheets and scans back from the lab, and I need to acquire some distance from the experience of travelling in order to look at the images with fresh eyes.

The other day I was watching a lecture given by Thomas Ruff and he spoke of photographs and how they differed from their subjects. He spoke specifically of portraits, and how he had to change the size of his photographs so that people began to identify the photographs separately from their subjects.

In a similar way, I have to make that separation between the photographs and the subjects before I can make sense of them for what they are. Sometimes it just takes longer than others. Sometimes I'm just lazy. :p

If it's hip it's here just posted information about the Yves Saint-Laurent retrospective at the Petit Palais in Paris. They've also been kind enough to post a mini retrospective of their own for those of us who won't be making it to Paris this summer. The official site is chock full of information and images as well (although the Flash interface to step through photos is a little obtrusive).

On the subject of YSL, one of my favorite museums is the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech. I was surprised to stumble upon the home and gardens while visiting Morocco. I hadn't known about it until I arrived and was amazed at the collection of Islamic art, among the best I had seen in the country. For anyone visiting Maroc, I highly recommend it.

The NYTimes Lens blog is featuring work by Mariella Furrer. A victim of sexual abuse herself, her photographs document young victims of abuse in South Africa.

An estimated 50 child rapes are reported daily in South Africa, Ms. Furrer said, but children's rights advocates activists believe the actual rate could be much higher. On an average day, she said, two to eight children visit a local police station to report abuse.

She is at work on a book of the material, and is developing a global fundraising campaign to raise awareness of child sexual abuse. There is no additional information about her efforts, but more of her work can be found on her site.