Current Art Event: Augmented Reality Art Platform

Art 140 Paper 2

Current Art Event: Augmented Reality Art Platform

                Snapchat, a social media platform, which has become trendy in recent years made another bold move earlier this week. To incorporate art into its technology, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel announced a collaboration with famous pop artist Jeff Koons, who is known for his imposing, reflective balloon and animal sculptures, at the 2017 Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit. Snapchat is launching a virtual art project, which features artworks by various artists, that will be pinned to specific locations in augmented reality to be shared to users through the app. Now, the digital sculptures of Jeff Koons are available in famous cities across countries in Snapchat. Through this visual art installation, Spiegel is looking forward to inspiring people to use the app for creative expression rather than solely communication. According to an article by Josh Constine on TechCrunch, the ART launch could boost the user growth of Snapchat by permitting users to share the art they created in the real world in the augmented reality. However, it is uncertain that Snapchat will bring this project to every corner of the vast physical world such that the accessibility of the project is not limited to the users in top cities.

                    As the news went viral in the social media, the project garners attention from around the world. According to the news article by Claire Voon in Hyperallergic, the balloon dog by James Koons is vandalized after the digital sculpture was pinned to Central Park, Illinois in Snapchat. It is done by an artist, Sebastian Errazuriz, as a “symbolic stance against an imminent augmented reality corporate invasion”. Clearly, Errazuriz is against the ART launch. He brings up questions about privatization and control of digital real estate through his vandalism. It is foreseeable that virtual world will soon become our reality in near future. Yet, the tech behemoth is now utilizing the space as a promotional campaign to their advantages. Hence, Errazuriz’s vandalism is meant to resonate “the early motivation of graffiti writers who were reclaiming public space for individual expression as advertisers colored the streets with their own graphic”, as reported in the Hyperallergic. Contrast to the first article that employs a rather neutral view with approval towards the project, this article features opinions that are against the work. Although being awed by the ideas behind the project, this article now reminded me of the problems that might arouse after the launch. Though we could now experience art in a different way in the augmented reality, it also means that the corporate will be controlling the content in the augmented reality realm and influence us subconsciously.

                  Personally, I believe that the project encourages creative processes by infusing art into technology. It is impressive that the tech giant is bringing the way we experience art to a whole new level through the technology innovation. As play is a huge element in such project, communication through Snapchat becomes more delightful and exciting. We can now interact with the art in the augmented reality through the social platform. In the articles, both the authors took a stance on the project, Constine is looking into the future of the project, suspecting the ability of Snapchat to bring this experience to every corner in the physical world while Voon is suspicious of the agenda behind the project, publicizing Spiegel’s vandalism which calls into question the domination of the augmented reality space by tech giants. As both articles are looking into different aspects of the project, I agree with both of them. However, with massive collaboration, I believe Snapchat will soon bring the project to anywhere they intend to. As for the dominance of the augmented reality space by the tech giant, I figure it is inevitable as they are the provider of such project. Yet, I believe the users will still have a say in what to be published. After all, user growth is crucial to the company. Intrigued by the opinions after the launch, I would like to know the views of more artists on the project so that I could look into the issues from diverse perspective.