VR/AR: Art's New Canvas, Audience's New World
Immersive tech like VR and AR reshapes art creation and how audiences experience it, offering new ways to engage.
Topics: arts, technology, media
Example
From 12 to 26 March 2020, the artist KAWS and the London-based company Acute Art showed 'Expanded Holiday', an augmented reality (AR) artwork. Using a free phone app, people could see a giant virtual version of KAWS's character COMPANION floating over 12 places on six continents, including Times Square in New York, the Louvre in Paris and Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo. It opened just as COVID-19 lockdowns began, so many people viewed it at home.
Key facts
- From 12 to 26 March 2020 KAWS and Acute Art showed AR versions of COMPANION at 12 locations on six continents through a phone app.
Limitations
- Viewing needed a smartphone and the app, so 'accessible' art still depended on owning the right device; one project does not show how widely AR art is adopted.
Evaluations
arts evaluation
Support
A single digital sculpture appeared in 12 cities at once, something no physical artwork can do, showing AR expanding what public art can be.
Counterargument
Critics argue that seeing a sculpture through a phone screen lacks the presence and scale of a real object.
Rebuttal
AR does not replace physical art; it adds a new form, as photography and film did, with its own strengths.
Additional support
KAWS sold editions of the AR works, showing artists experimenting with new ways to own and sell digital art.
technology evaluation
Support
Ordinary smartphones made the work viewable without special headsets, lowering the cost of experiencing immersive art.
Counterargument
Apps and AR formats change quickly, so digital artworks risk becoming unviewable when the software stops being supported.
Rebuttal
Preserving digital art is a real challenge, but museums are developing ways to archive it, as they once did for video art.
Additional support
Acute Art has worked with many artists, showing a company building a business around AR art.
media evaluation
Support
Viewers shared screenshots and videos on social media, so the artwork spread through people's own posts.
Counterargument
When art is designed for sharing, it risks being judged by how it looks online rather than by its meaning.
Rebuttal
Social sharing brought new audiences to KAWS who might never visit a gallery, which widens access even if viewing is brief.
Additional support
Opening as lockdowns began meant the work became one of the few art events people could join from home.
Sources
- designboom (2020-03-12): KAWS and Acute Art launch monumental AR sculptures in 12 locations around the world