The Metamorphosis of the Annual RSA Open
“All things must change to something new, to something strange.”
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
28 November 2014
the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
#RSAopen #ARTrevolution
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
28 November 2014
the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
#RSAopen #ARTrevolution
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So why did I decide to stage a “digital annexing” of the Annual Royal Scottish Academy Open and transform it into the Trevor Jones exhibition?
There are a number of reasons: Some might make sense, some might not and some of which I'll try to explain below.
Firstly, I enjoy experimenting with new technology and art. The possibilities are almost limitless and it all seems a bit like magic to me – I feel a little like a child again, staring in awe at something wonderful but which I don’t quite understand. With new technological innovations such as Augmented Reality (AR) I see a very bright future for the arts.
But tech-talk aside, undeniably we’re living in a dire economic climate and the current art market is turbulent to say the least, unless of course you’re the über-rich and you own work by famous dead artists and hang out at Sotheby's. To make ends meet is almost impossible and framing all my work for a show, hiring a gallery space and paying for the wine is unfortunately not financially viable at the moment. Therefore, “hijacking” the RSA Open was very simply a cost effective way for a struggling artist to showcase his artwork in other peoples' nice frames, invite his friends along to the opening and offer them a complimentary glass of wine in a beautiful and prestigious environment – and all for free.
There are a number of reasons: Some might make sense, some might not and some of which I'll try to explain below.
Firstly, I enjoy experimenting with new technology and art. The possibilities are almost limitless and it all seems a bit like magic to me – I feel a little like a child again, staring in awe at something wonderful but which I don’t quite understand. With new technological innovations such as Augmented Reality (AR) I see a very bright future for the arts.
But tech-talk aside, undeniably we’re living in a dire economic climate and the current art market is turbulent to say the least, unless of course you’re the über-rich and you own work by famous dead artists and hang out at Sotheby's. To make ends meet is almost impossible and framing all my work for a show, hiring a gallery space and paying for the wine is unfortunately not financially viable at the moment. Therefore, “hijacking” the RSA Open was very simply a cost effective way for a struggling artist to showcase his artwork in other peoples' nice frames, invite his friends along to the opening and offer them a complimentary glass of wine in a beautiful and prestigious environment – and all for free.
Seriously though (I was a little serious above, in fact) I see augmented and virtual reality playing an increasingly significant and evolving role in society and it makes sense to me, as an artist, to explore how I can use this tool as I trudge along on my creative journey. Also, this is such brilliant, cutting-edge technology that its creative potential really needs to be introduced to other artists before it's too late and the tech world disappears off into the future leaving us artists lagging far behind. The RSA Open provided the perfect platform to communicate this message.
Importantly, I believe this augmenting of the RSA Open throws up some very interesting questions such as "who owns digital space?" As more and more people begin to use this technology a lot of questions will be asked. I could have found perhaps an old derelict building and hosted a virtual exhibition of my work but that would have said really very little except that I'm using some curious, new technology. However, by launching this innovative art project at the RSA Open I immediately challenge the traditional understanding of an art exhibition. This in part has to do with how augmented reality works.
Without getting into too much boring detail, I photographed the walls of the exhibition to create "trackables" from the images. A trackable was not made up of one specific artwork but it also included the frame, the wall space and even other artworks nearby. When someone with the app scans the area (or the trackable), it recognises that space, triggering the AR feature and my embedded artwork (plus links to my website, FB page, text and even music), which just happened to be placed within a frame of one of the works on display. What I find interesting is, if the physical artwork was placed in any other setting or even if that artwork alone was scanned the AR feature wouldn't engage and my image would not appear. So who owns this "trigger" image made up of wall, frames and numerous artists' work? And who owns the digital space accessed via this image? The gallery? The artist whose work is on the wall? The person using the augmented reality platform?
Importantly, I believe this augmenting of the RSA Open throws up some very interesting questions such as "who owns digital space?" As more and more people begin to use this technology a lot of questions will be asked. I could have found perhaps an old derelict building and hosted a virtual exhibition of my work but that would have said really very little except that I'm using some curious, new technology. However, by launching this innovative art project at the RSA Open I immediately challenge the traditional understanding of an art exhibition. This in part has to do with how augmented reality works.
Without getting into too much boring detail, I photographed the walls of the exhibition to create "trackables" from the images. A trackable was not made up of one specific artwork but it also included the frame, the wall space and even other artworks nearby. When someone with the app scans the area (or the trackable), it recognises that space, triggering the AR feature and my embedded artwork (plus links to my website, FB page, text and even music), which just happened to be placed within a frame of one of the works on display. What I find interesting is, if the physical artwork was placed in any other setting or even if that artwork alone was scanned the AR feature wouldn't engage and my image would not appear. So who owns this "trigger" image made up of wall, frames and numerous artists' work? And who owns the digital space accessed via this image? The gallery? The artist whose work is on the wall? The person using the augmented reality platform?
The Shock of the New
Technology’s influence on the arts is not going to go away. It’s not a “gimmick”, as one artist I know argued, and it’s not something we can ignore. It's just taking a little time to gain traction as the Art Establishment is notorious for taking it's time adapting to change. Embracing technology is not something that will come easily. Regardless, technological innovation can help to develop and improve processes and creativity (think how technology has, over the last few decades, completely transformed popular music, film making, photography and animation) AND it can add to the viewer’s enjoyment and engagement with the artwork. This will also throw a lot of questions into the mix for curators. How does one curate both a physical and a digital exhibition simultaneously? How difficult will it be for a curator to make an exhibition "work" as a physical space but with images, text, video or even 3D digital objects positioned in the virtual space alongside?
One of my paintings, a 2nd year art college work, that I digitally embedded into the RSA Open exhibition.
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The Plan
So what exactly did I do at the RSA Open on the night of the 28th November 2014? A couple days before the exhibition opening I photographed all the gallery rooms and artwork. Then, Implementing augmented reality, I digitally transformed about 60 of the works on display into my own paintings. I would have transformed all 400+ but I ran out of time and my own art images. Then I asked a group of friends to download the free AR app Junaio to their smartphones and tablets and invited them to the opening night. Exploring the exhibition, my friends scanned the RSA walls and on the screens of their mobile devices, saw my paintings digitally superimposed in the frames of other artists. We filmed it all and created a short video (above) to capture what happened and the reactions of some of the other exhibition guests.
And Finally...
I didn’t augment the RSA Open with the intent to upset the other artists, but rather to challenge the concept of “open exhibitions”, which I’ve always been slightly suspicious of. I have only admiration for anyone who puts their ideas, passion, heart and soul up on display for the world to view and potentially criticise. I hope those whose work I augmented know this and for those of you with work in the RSA Open that I didn't digitally transform but wished I did, again, this was nothing personal. I just ran out of time, my own art images and cloud storage space to augment the entire RSA exhibition. Maybe next time. ;)
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ~ Alan Watts
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ~ Alan Watts
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Even though I was not officially involved in the RSA Open Exhibition I received a fantastic review from the Scottish Art Blog.
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In keeping with the observation regarding the rise of individual voices, the most effective display of this was actually administered by painter, and augmented reality wizard, Trevor Jones, at the show’s opening event. ~ Scottish Art Blog |
