The Museum of Failed Predictions
My 50-minute keynote, The Museum of Failed Predictions, at the Creative Tech Scotland Gathering on 14th May went down really well. The audience was made up of creatives, technologists, innovators and educators interested in where art and technology are heading, so the themes around AI, disruption, experimentation and creative risk-taking really resonated.
One of the highlights of the talk was the story of how in 2014, after being rejected from the Royal Scottish Academy Open Exhibition three years in a row with my QR code and AR paintings, I decided to hijack the 188th Annual Open Exhibition and turn it into the ‘Trevor Jones Solo Show’ through AR intervention. The day before the opening, I snuck into the RSA exhibition (I won’t say how…) to photograph the artworks hanging on the walls. That night, I augmented them so that, when scanned through a phone or tablet, my own artworks appeared inside the frames alongside links to my website and social media so visitors could discover my work through the exhibition itself. I then counterfeited 25 tickets to the opening night, invited friends who’d downloaded my app, and had them scan the artworks on the walls while filming it.
Some of the younger artists in the exhibition were fascinated by the technology. Some of the old guard were not happy at all. I even received an email from the president of Visual Arts Scotland telling me I’d disrespected the long tradition of the RSA Open Exhibition, and the artists whose work I’d augmented. Oops… But this was 12 years ago. I think a lot of people genuinely thought I’d somehow vandalised the work digitally. They didn’t understand what AR actually was and how it worked.
It appears that challenging gatekeepers and institutions is something many creatives deeply connect with and get excited by, especially now when innovation is involved. Sometimes the ideas dismissed as foolish, gimmicky or disruptive are the very things that end up building the foundations for the future.
A huge thank you to everyone who attended and came up afterwards to share your thoughts and stories. It was a wonderful night!