There were numerous AR Festivals in 2020. In this post I want to present two examples hostet by AcuteArt – an digital marketplace for Augmented reality artworks.
Unreal City, London´s biggest AR festival in 2020 was extended until February 2021. It consists of 36 AR works from artists all over the globe including never before seen pieces from KAWS, Tomás Saraceno and many more. Initally the virtual sculptures were placed at specific positions in London, due to the COVID pandemic they can bee seen all over the world – even in your living room!
The AR pieces can been seen through Acute Art app.
“When I realized the quality that could be achieved and experienced in AR, I was immediately drawn to its potential (…) ” – KAWS
The AR exhibition “Expanded Holiday” opened in March 2020 and could be seen with the Acute Art App across eleven locations—Doha, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Paris, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Taipei, Serengeti National Park, Tokyo, and New York City.
Londoner Mastaba
For three months in 2018, the monumental sculpture was installed on top of the Serpentine Lake in London’s Hyde Park by artist Christo. Since the sculpture is gone it can be seen with via the Acute Art app. The London Mastaba AR offers art enthusiasts the opportunity to discover an exact virtual replica of the installation through their mobile phones when they visit the Serpentine Lake.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCbQAWslXqE/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again
A potentially lucrative market
While Acute Art CEO Jacob De Geer said that his company “was founded on the vision of democratising art and bringing it to places where it could not be before,” there is huge potential for the commercialisation of AR artworks.
New Jersey-born street artist KAWS put this theory to the test in March 2020 with an ambitious AR project, which encompassed a public exhibition and the drop of two AR sculpture editions of his trademark “Companion” that are available for purchase on Acute Art’s app.
As for the editions, the first installment is comprised of 25 AR sculptures (1.8m) that will be available to acquire exclusively though the Acute Art website for $10,000 USD each. Users will be able to place, capture and document the ubiquitous KAWS subject at varying locations using the app. They can also make their documentation private or public with the option to resell the edition too. The second rollout is an open edition consisting of AR sculptures in three unique colorways that will release in various timeframes. Users will only be able to keep the works for 24 hours or 10 days and share their experience on social media. Prices start at $6.99 USD for one sculpture for 24 hours.
Owners are able to place, capture, and document these AR works, collectively named “COMPANION (EXPANDED),” at different locations using the Acute Art app. More surprisingly, they can keep the AR sculptures private, or make them publicly available for anyone who has downloaded the app.
Sources:
https://www.nowness.com/story/unreal-city-acute-art
https://www.archpaper.com/2020/03/kaws-worldwide-ar-exhibition/
https://hypebeast.com/2020/3/kaws-expanded-holiday-companion-augmented-reality-acute-art-app-info
