The placemaking of “Seeing the Invisible” is the most ambitious and expansive exhibition to date of contemporary artworks created with augmented reality (AR) technology and exhibited in 12 botanical gardens in six countries including Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa, Britain and the United States for one year at the same time. As we know, the exhibition was created with AR technology, so the exhibition can only be viewed upon visiting the participating botanical gardens and by looking at the intangible mobile application developed for the project. The unique Seeing the Invisible application can be accessed through smartphones and tablets, which can be downloaded free of charge in the App Store and Google Play. When the visitor opens the application, a GPS map will be displayed. This will show them a suggested route to visit all the artworks around the garden. When they are in the range of AR artwork, the application will notify you through the drop-down banner, and prompt them to scan the area by using the device and placing the artwork in the specified area. Once placed, the visitors can use the application to view, interact, listen and shoot the artwork.
In my opinion, the placemaking initiatives need to consider the new embedded reality of physical and digital interactions to strategically plan and design urban projects in the digital media era. Therefore, the exhibition and combined with the app “seeing the invisible” is a good idea to show enact different types of urban storytelling and placemaking and wellbeing. Although all participating gardens present the same exhibition, as the works are extended to the unique environment and background of each garden, the exhibition gets different experiences in the background of each place and offers different perspectives to viewers depending on where they are in the world which enacted different types of urban storytelling. Since the works can not be experienced online, but require viewers to physically visit the gardens, they offer a “physical” experience combining the physical location and the digital manifestation. Thus, the exhibition invites viewers to also contemplate contemporary notions relating to site and non-site, physical and digital realms. As viewers are invited to explore the botanical gardens and actively locate the artworks scattered throughout them, they must use technological devices to establish the digital works into existence and, in many cases, experience the way their own physical presence affects the work and changes its course, further exploring the interrelations between the “art object” and the self. Public space is the key to these initiatives because this is where all the community layers of interaction and activity converge. The design of the physical space has been always considered a factor in the social dynamics of a place. In recent years, placemaking has emerged as a cooperative process for improving urban environments. The design of physical space is an essential aspect for enabling changes in these environments. Moreover, in this digital age, technology has changed the way in which societies experience places and can influence how placemaking happens in the built environment. Smartphones and other technologies allow easy access to all kinds of data about a place and facilitate instant communication among people around the world. As an open-air exhibition, it supports the need to access art and culture amid the continuing pandemic, encouraging people to come back out into their communities and engage with contemporary art from around the world.
In addition, the exhibition is also held in the face of another global problem which is climate change and biodiversity loss. The theme of the exhibition focuses on the relationship between us and nature, and explore the boundaries and relations among art, technology and nature. Each piece of art provides a thought-provoking experience space for the audience to think about its specific themes. The nature of AR means that the participating botanical gardens will not be disturbed, and the carbon footprint of the exhibition will be kept to a minimum.
In conclusion, the exhibition addresses themes pertaining to nature, the environment and sustainability and explores the boundaries and connections between art, technology, and nature. Both bleak and full of hope, each work of art provides a unique perspective on these unresolved issues, creating thought-provoking, experiential and contemplative spaces for the audience.
Reflection:
Lanson, K., de Souza e Silva, A. and Hjorth, L., 2022. the routledge companion to mobile media art Free Download. [online] Husamzalloum.net. Available at: <https://www.husamzalloum.net/file/the-routledge-companion-to-mobile-media-art/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].
Makoto Manabe & Lois Lydens. 2007. Making Connections: Using Mobile Phones as a Museum Tool, Journal of Museum Education, 32:1, 27-34, DOI: 10.1080/10598650.2007.11510555
See The Invision. 2022. SEEING THE INVISIBLE. [online] Available at: <https://seeingtheinvisible.art/about/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].
