Physical and Digital Artscapes
The social media company Snapchat recently unveiled a new and artsy high-tech experiment that allows for 3D art installations. Using the Snapchat app, users can peer through their smart phones and explore a digital landscape superimposed atop a physical one.
A collaboration with Jeff Koons reveals a giant AR sculpture in Central Park, New York City. His signature balloon inflatable creatures are scattered across major public spaces all over the world. Of course, all are invisible without the use of the app.
Jeff Koons is an iconic American artist who takes pop-culture icons and everyday objects — like a simple balloon animal — and reimagines them. Koons casts these images in colorful stainless steel to give them new weight and new meaning. Discover Koons’ digital Lenses installations scattered across the world to experience them for yourself, and learn a little more about them! (via Youtube)
A New Digital Frontier for Public Art?
Snapchat is accepting 3D proposals from other artists as well. A banner that reads "Artists Welcome" carries some interesting implications for how artists can engage in public spaces. Apps like this one could make landmarks and major public hotspots all over the world accessible through the digital realm of AR.
Fun fact : Snapchat was forced to reveal this initiative when a developer snuck through an ominous countdown clock that appeared on the main page. Ha, so much for marketing hype. Let's just let the balloon creatures speak for themselves.
https://art.snapchat.com/
