Lady Gaga is trying to converge the world of art and pop music, and so far among her fan base, she is succeeding. 

Gaga dropped her third studio album, “ARTPOP,” an experimental synthpop album on Nov. 6. Accompanying the album is the official free “ARTPOP” app on iPhone and Android devices.

The app’s description states that it aims to “bring ARTculture into POP in a reverse Warholian expedition. Exploring Gaga’s existence as a cultural interface, the user will share in the adrenaline of fame as they build and share their own projects, chat with one another, and watch in real time on a virtual globe as ARTPOP explodes onto the physical and virtual universe at once.”

On initial launch, the app presents you with a shiny and translucent figure named “Petga” who assists the user in creating his or her “aura.” As the introduction progresses, Petga explains that she needs your location and access to your phone’s camera to accurately compose your “aura,” which was a nice touch rather than the app just asking for permission on startup.

Petga then asks a series of questions such as what characteristics you identify with most, and what artistic expressions interest you the most, so to better tailor the app to your unique “aura.” 

After set-up, you are redirected to ARTPOP’s home screen, with your aura in a ball of glitter shimmering on the bottom of the screen. If you have purchased the ARTPOP album, the app allows you to listen to the album while doing other things within the app.

Unfortunately, the app is currently only half available. Besides streaming the album (if you have purchased it), the only other thing you can do within the app is create and share Gaga-inspired graphics in the “ArtHaus” section of the app, as well as explore other fans’ works. You are also able to chat with other users if you are signed up on littlemonsters.com

The two missing sections are called “Trakstar” and “GagaTV” and will be released on April 1. Not much is known about these upcoming components, but hopefully they will add more substance to the currently somewhat lacking app.

The app has a fantastic design and is very pleasing visually, but the fact that there just is not much to do at this point is a bit of a turn-off.

2.5/5 (For now)