When I first saw the word “API” I thought to myself: “what the heck is API?” API seems confusing to people until they understand what it stands for: Application Programming Interface. In Jer’s article ART AND THE API, he defines API as a bridge that allows computer programs to communicate. But how is it related to art ? Well, according to Jer, API can be extremely useful for media artists because it enables them to “makes a permanent link between two applications, one whose pitch and timbre can change as the data themselves are updated.”

An example of the use of API in the art world could be the  Met collection API. It is the Met’s Open Access datasets that are available through a RESTful web service in JSON format. The API provides access to all of the Met’s Open Access data and to corresponding high resolution images.