Text-Me-Up! The Art of Text Messages

In a world of twitter-inspired books and movies, and everyone buzzing about Google+, the humble text message is often overlooked. The appropriately named British artist Tracey Moberley is doing her best to rectify that.

Moberley has released an autobiography, Text-Me-Up!, drawn from the 55,000-plus texts she has ever received. She can even remember the very first one, received during lunch in Manchester in 1999. Many would cringe at the idea of revealing their text history to the public, others might wonder how many pages can be filled with "Where r u?"

The book isn't Moberley's only text-message based art. In 2001 she released 2,000 helium balloons with her mobile number and a text attached, inviting responses from complete strangers.

Her current project asks people who receive a text message from her to commemorate the event by sticking up a pink plaque, challenging the common view of the text as a purely utilitarian and disposable piece of communication.