When technology and art get it on, virtual sparks fly. Breadboard/EKG at the University City Science Center is calling for artists to participate in two public art projects that integrate mobile devices. The first, called DIS*LOCATIONS, "uses art to spiff up abandoned, vacated storefronts," says Dan Schimmel, Director of Breadboard. The second, Virtual Art @PIFA, is billed as "a series of site-specific virtual artworks throughout the city of Philadelphia," to be viewed via The Virtual Public Art Project's free Layar App for most iPhone and Android smart phone devices.
DIS*LOCATIONS is part of the City of Philadelphia's ReStore Corridors through Art program and is sponsored by The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University, in partnership with Breadboard and Drexel's Center for Mobilities Research. According to Schimmel, each DIS*LOCATIONS artist will be assigned an empty storefront, and will either create an installation inside the shop window or design a scrim to overlay the exterior surface of the building. Here's where technology comes into play: a QR code, which is a version of the bar code that smart phones can read, will accompany each artwork. Schimmel says passers by will use their phones to take a picture of the code and direct them to a website, as well as point to other projects in a walking path. DIS*LOCATIONS becomes a technology driven street art exhibit that's also a walking tour, meant to engage existing businesses and create new foot traffic.
Virtual Art @ PIFA is part of the upcoming citywide Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts which begins in April. Artists are asked to create virtual installations connected to real places in the city. "In Augmented Reality," says Schimmel, an artwork "could be floating over the South Street Bridge, or sitting in Rittenhouse Square." A smart phone running the Layar app recognizes GPS coordinates, and a 3D image appears on the screen. Schimmel has been deep into Augmented Reality, or AR, since Breadboard and the Virtual Public Art Project (VPAP) collaborated on a pilot project last November. "AR seems to be on the verge of changing our lives in terms of commercial and social activity." For example, says Schimmel, "If you go to a museum with a smart phone and view a mummy in a glass case, AR provides immersive enhancement to the exhibit. An animated mummy could walk out, and proceed to do things that would be customary for that time period." Or imagine walking into a shopping mall where you are identified as a potential customer. Retailers will send images and messages tailored to your profile and location.
Deadline for both applications is mid-February.
Source: Dan Schimmel, Breadboard
Writer: Sue Spolan