Augmented Reality for Cultural Institutions

Augmented reality can also be used as a medium for art itself. In this use scenario, AR is used less as a tool for communicating information to the visitor, but as an artistic tool to evoke wonder and excitement, as well as connect with visitors on an emotional level. It gives artists a new playground to explore and create, or as artist Mercedes Dorame describes it, from her partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), “AR allows for the dislocation of the physical laws we operate in… [It’s] an expansion of perception, experience, and imagination.”

Several museums and cultural institutions have partnered with or commissioned artists to create AR-powered exhibits, either within or outside the museum walls. LACMA commissioned artists to explore the monuments and murals in Los Angeles, looking at “some of the histories of Los Angeles communities in an effort to highlight perspectives from across the region.” In addition to Mercedes Dorame, four other local artists each created a unique AR experience that placed virtual monuments in various locations throughout the city, prompting visitors to think about what monuments are and what histories they represent. LACMA describes the initiative as “an immersive medium for advocacy and representation” and an innovative new way for artists to build monuments, outside of the tradition of bronze and stone.

Another example of artists using AR as a canvas or a tool is at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. However, in this case, there was no collaboration; in fact, the artists turned the Jackson Pollock gallery on the museum’s fifth floor into an AR experience on their own terms. Any visitor can download the app, called MoMAR, which allows them to view the Pollock paintings in different ways: in some cases, the paintings have been remixed or even entirely replaced. According to a Wired article, the museum has not commented on the app, but the artists behind it have open-sourced their code and invite other artists around the world to participate, creating their own virtual takeovers of museums and galleries. This example highlights how there is an appetite for AR experiences among visitors, and it might be in the museum’s best interest to provide that content themselves. It also raises some new questions about who owns virtual space, and if museums should embrace the use of unauthorized virtual augmentations as another way to engage visitors?