AR Art "Invasion: Borders of the Future"
In May 2023, at the international contemporary art festival ARTWEEK. FAIRY TALES II: WONDER QUEST! in Novosibirsk, I presented AR Art "Invasion: Borders of the Future."
In the exhibition space, dozens of QR codes are placed in such a way that when capturing the art objects of other artists on a smartphone, they come into the camera's field of view. At that moment, a link to a web page with an AR object appears on the smartphone screen. The user follows the link and interacts (examines, rotates, captures) with one of the eight objects (each object has its own QR code). There is no need to download an application as AR works through the browser. This mechanism is repeated several times throughout the path from the beginning to the end of the exhibition space. However, the user does not receive any explanation of what these objects are and how they are related to other artworks.
At the end of the exhibition space, a video art piece is displayed featuring all the AR objects and description.
Description:
What seems like a fairy tale to us today becomes reality tomorrow. Therefore, it is important to start thinking about the virtual personal boundaries of the future today: what are they? The development of digital space and its integration into the physical world are changing the concept of personal boundaries. We have adapted to the fluidity of boundaries in our physical personal space. We are ready to commute during rush hour in public transportation or shout over each other in a crowded bar. But what about mental boundaries? When confronted with any information, our brain begins to process and reflect on it.
To allow you to experience this, I used a principle that works in a familiar situation. Streets, transportation, cafes, offices... everywhere we hear speech. It flows as background noise, but sometimes individual phrases invade our brains and evoke sudden imagery in our heads. By analogy, I created augmented reality objects and placed QR codes in the exhibition space. They intruded into your visual world like phrases from background noise, violating personal mental boundaries when you tried to capture the art objects of other artists on your smartphone.
In this experiment, I demonstrated that we still cannot control the violation of mental personal boundaries and the subsequent reflection, except by locking ourselves in a dark room without gadgets. Or is there another way, like anti-spam and notification filters? Who will establish the boundaries and based on what criteria? What will we encounter, and how will we manage it in the future? I invite you to reflect on this topic.
I am open to suggestions and ready to present this AR art at your festival
or exhibition anywhere in the world. All you need to do is print and place
the QR codes and display the video with all the objects on the screen.
