The progress of technology has sweeping implications on society as a whole. As cultures become more entangled with mobile devices and their associated faculties, their peoples are finding new ways to leverage technology as it pertains to expression.
The world of art has always been an ambient measure of philosophical and conceptual advances in society. Art is widely regarded as a cultural barometer through which humanity’s state of mind can be determined. Now people are using technology to enhance their view of art and, perhaps, give the world around them more of a creative flare.
The Samek Art Gallery at the Bucknell University in Pennsylvania has teamed with MANIFEST.AR, a “cyber-artist” collective that uses augmented reality as an art form. The organization made a name for itself back in 2010 when its artists created an augmented reality art exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The exhibition was unsanctioned by the museum, but that did not stop artists from surrounding the facility with AR constructs, which were viewable to anyone with a smart phone capable of recognizing augmented reality triggers.
MANIFEST.AR has been tapped to create another such exhibit for the Samek Art Gallery, titled “Not Here.” Richard Rinehart, director of the art gallery, has said that the project shows alludes to the path that humanity is on. The works on display will be used more as a social indicator rather than a technological one. Rinehart believes that as people become increasingly entwined with technology, so too will art and how it is perceived.
