Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz

THE UNINVITED
Augmented Reality 2021-Present

We started experimenting with Augmented Reality (AR) technology towards the end of 2020 to create and place virtual works in our exhibitions and in users’ environments. Our first exhibited AR work, “The Bird House”, 2021 was presented at the Cervantes Institute in New York in early 2022.

"Falling in Place," 2023, seen in this video, is an Augmented Reality (AR) work by Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz. It is "set" on the second floor at MOMA in New York City. This virtual experience can be shared with anyone via a QR code or a simple link, a fascinating aspect of AR. It is part of our series of AR works titled "The Uninvited."

AR is interesting for us because it allows us to create works out of digital stuff that doesn't exist in the real world and yet can have a convincing presence there. It allows us to do something that goes beyond the object. Recently we have been having fun setting our AR creations in proximity to real works in museums and other sites. These unsanctioned interventions have the thrill of the subversive without the consequences, at least for now. After all, they are not real-world things. It is not only a fascinating and amusing activity but also a thought-provoking one, especially regarding the dialogue generated between AR art and physical art.

As artists who have made many art objects throughout our careers, it is refreshing to be able to create these art mirages without any of the toxic, wasteful, costly, and space-hogging production components. AR is a sustainable way to create 3-dimensional art. Large works may not need to be fabricated if they can be experienced. They can be part of our cultural discourse without becoming real, just like stories or ideas.

Fairy Tales Exhibition at QAGOMA

Three Augmented Reality works are on view in the international Fairy Tales exhibition at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane Australia