The ARt Gallery

Killing the gallery


The argument that mode of art (x) or delivery method (y) will be the end of the gallery or museum space has been offered before and will no doubt be served up on a bed of clutched straws again in the future. 

Whilst it may well be the bold vision of innovative artists to escape, ignore or twist these sacred spaces, galleries have so far been quite dynamic and resilient. They have successfully absorbed these attempts, re-framed them or survived without them.

"Most street artists claim that they make art on the street to avoid the market-driven, institutionalized, mainstream economy of the gallery system." (Abrams, L. 2018)

Galleries (and museums) remain dominant cultural dictators because they have the power to control the dialogue/branding within their walls and consequently, within the wider culture. However, these art temples are not inviolate.

In this short post I'm offering the idea that Augmented and Mixed reality (soon to be in greater combination with geo-location) could further impact the consumption of art, disrupt gallery spaces and challenge their dominance as cultural curators.


Terminology


There's a lot of terminology that can be unpacked but there's also plenty of explanatory material online which will help inquisitive readers. So rather than repeat the efforts of others, I will very briefly describe some terms and if you're interested you can dig further.

Game Engine - A software package that combines 3D art with sound and programming to create a new programme or experience that will run on a target device or platform. See Unity , Unreal

Augmented Reality - Text, video, 3D content visually overlaid (overlayered?)on the real world and accessible/viewable by a device such as a phone, tablet or glasses (like a kind of reverse 'They Live').

Mixed Reality - As above except the 3D content is integrated more realistically into the environment and can be occluded by real world objects on screen.

Geo-location - This technology allows 3D content to be placed in the world according to spatial coordinates not camera markers.


Where the practitioners are now?


AR/MR Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality are increasingly available to anyone who has a mobile or tablet (have a look on your current device(s) or your app store). They are used in schools as teaching aids (BlippAR), they are used in immensely popular video games (Pokemon GO) and now in the most tentative way, they are beginning to circle the wagons of the art world and some of the big shooters are investigating (Jeff Koons).

But the big shooters are just playing with cap guns whilst the disruptors are coming. The young generations of digital natives who are used to this technology will be the guerilla artists of tomorrow. AR/MR platforms will continue to spring up becoming open source and content rich. Tech savvy kids and artists will add their own content and put it ANYWHERE. As geo-location becomes more accurate and remote, they'll be able to do this without even leaving home, having just the coordinates of the display destination at their disposal.


Implications for galleries?
 

Galleries will not die as long as there is a need for artists to be supported and for art to be validated and commodified. AR/MR may even have a positive effect in terms of user engagement and attracting new audiences if galleries are quick to get on board. Sharp curators and gallery owners will soon have a whole host of tech savvy artists on their books capable of all kinds of mischief and commentary and visual delights. However the sacred space will not be the same. The doors are wide open.

The disruptors, the artists, the memers will put their content anywhere including inside gallery spaces and with the right app, anyone in the target space will be able to see it and capture it against that live backdrop, to share with the world. These creations/intervention/subversions will not be (easily) curatable or removable, because they're simply 'not there'.

Galleries will be violated spaces. Overrun by the whims and wheezes of invisible liminal pranksters. Exhibitions will be subverted. Everywhere will be.

As I dwell upon this, it seems the galleries and museums will only be able to stop this by banning or blocking mobile technology... although that technology won't even be phones in the near future (Hololens).

The 'next Banksy' will be using AR.


Implications for the real world?
 

As AR/MR technology becomes more ubiquitous, (and it is already happening)  more cultures and sub cultures can adopt it. Memes will be 3D and also outside in the wider world, not just the gallery world. The 'in crowds' with their dedicated apps or platforms will see different content overlaid on different places at the same time. In the digital world a million different objects with a million different meanings could sit simultaneously in the same space and each one be independently viewable by a million different sub cultures.


The implications for security seem to be quite big too, but as it's so easy for 'new' tech to be demonised and for many this vilification is catchy click bait, I'll refrain from adding my thoughts on that for now.   

Instead, I see AR/MR geo-location as an exciting opportunity to engage with the real world on new levels and for those who want to create content, a whole new exciting world awaits.


Further reading:


University of Northampton 'virtual sculptures' a UK first - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-49775393

What Is The Magicverse - https://www.magicleap.com/news/op-ed/magicverse

Augmented Fashion - https://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/digital-whizz-cleyon-brings-the-future-to-london-fashion-show/ 

Instagram is killing the way we experience art - https://qz.com/quartzy/1212385/instagram-is-killing-the-way-we-experience-art/


Bibliography:
 

Abrams, L. (2018). How Does Banksy Make Money? (Or, A Quick Lesson in Art Market Economics). Available: https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/close_look/how-does-banksy-make-money-or-a-lesson-in-art-market-economics-55352. Last accessed 6th Oct 2019.