Koons Doodles on Google

NEW YORK—Web users wondering what holiday those shiny metal objects on Google's homepage today are supposed to represent should wonder no further: They're art for art's sake. Sort of.

The image, Chrome Tulips, is actually a "google doodle" by Jeff Koons, according to the Official Google Blog, one of several dozen artistic collaborations the search engine has commissioned to promote the launch of iGoogle, a highly customizable platform set to rival Facebook. Users can select from among suites of images from 70 different visual artists and other creative types to personalize their homepages, which can also be embellished with a variety of widgets.

Other participants who've contributed "themes" — suites of images that appear in the homepage's top banner — include artists Dale Chihuly and Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Brit band Coldplay, fashion designers Diane von Furstenberg, Dolce & Gabbana, Tory Burch, Akira Isogawa, and Oscar de la Renta, designers Michael Graves and Philippe Starck, choreographer Mark Morris, and kiddie photographer Anne Geddes.

As part of the new program's launch, Google will be sponsoring an outdoor "art gallery" in New York's Meatpacking District tonight and Friday and Saturday nights in which the artworks will be projected onto buildings, sidewalks, and streets.