Snap! Orlando presents ‘CITY unseen,’ an ongoing public art project with site-specific installations across Orlando. This project opens artistic borders by launching the city into Augmented Reality [ AR ] experiences, with fusions of works by internationally renowned artists and cutting-edge AR technology. Experiences include murals coming to life, a projection mapping finding permanence into the virtual world, and a teleport bringing the viewer into a 360-degree visit of an artist’s studio in Los Angeles.
City Unseen is designed to push the artistic boundaries of this new medium to connect Orlando to a global conversation about how to use emerging technology to create higher forms of art and educational experiences. The project enhances viewers’ perspectives on art, dimensional reality, and perception, adding another layer of cultural significance to the Downtown, and Central Florida region. City Unseen initially takes root in Downtown Orlando with a number of public installations and murals around the city that are enhanced with embedded augmented reality components which can be viewed with the CITY Unseen app.
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Experiences include murals coming to life, a projection mapping finding permanence into the virtual world, and a teleport bringing the viewer into a 360-degree visit of an artist’s studio in Los Angeles. Featured artists are Miami multidisciplinary artists Felice Grodin, Ivan Toth Depena, Turkish digital artist Can Büyükberber, Los Angeles artists Nancy Baker Cahill, Matthew Swenson, German street artist Mark Gmehling, Australian artist Marc-o-Matic, Central Florida installation artists Mark Gerstein, Synthestruct, Matt Roberts, and Dengke Chen, and JR’s Inside Out/Dreamers project.
City Unseen positions Orlando as a pioneer with a new vision for the fusion of art and technology in the 21st century and serves as a platform for discussion about social, cultural, and environmental issues affecting those around us. Snap! Orlando is a leading Florida contemporary art organization with the mission to boldly increase the visibility and appreciation of the photographic arts and digital medium as a significant cultural art form. Snap! has captured the interest and respect of artists, enthusiasts, and critics around the world. Snap! founders Patrick and Holly Kahn were named in Orlando Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful in 2018.
PRESS:
Orlando Sentinel: ‘CITY unseen’ is a new [AR] installation, merging traditional art forms with modern augmented reality technology to create a public, always-accessible installation throughout Orlando.’ Calendar front page: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/ entertainment/os-et-s4-snap-Orlando-arexhibit-city-unseen-20181106-story.html
NPR: ’The idea of using augmented reality has spilled over into the art world, and now Orlando residents can experience it for themselves at a new exhibit called City Unseen at SNAP! Orlando on Colonial Drive.’ Interview: https://www.wmfe.org/intersection-city-unseen/92939
Orlando Weekly: ’We have two predictions for City Unseen: It’s going to look cool as hell, and it’s going to be really difficult to describe in writing.’ Link: https://m.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/10/05/snap-kicksoff-new-ar-enhanced-cityscape-exhibitwith-projection-mapping-on-a-downtownlandmark
Orlando Magazine: ‘Do not be alarmed if you find yourself wandering through downtown Orlando next month among buildings whose walls are wobbling with multicolored figures and designs. You did not just wake up from a bender. Your experience has been professionally curated by Patrick and Holly Kahn, owners of Snap! art galleries, who are orchestrating a series of augmented-reality creations to be virtually superimposed on landmarks and building facades beginning Oct. 3. The images— created by artists such as Nancy Baker Cahill, Can Bukukberber and Mark Gerstein—will be visible via an app on your cell phone. Other works will materialize, or seem to, in the Mills 50 district and at The Mall at Millenia, one of the sponsors of the project, which is called “City Unseen.” The Kahns envision their enterprise as an ongoing digital open-air art gallery, minus the uproar that usually precedes public-spaces beautification of the brick-and-mortar variety. No grousing about the cost to taxpayers. No construction delays. No sidewalk superintendents dissing the designs. And best of all, no pigeons.’
CITY unseen 2018 installations:
NANCY BAKER CAHILL
“Hollow Point 101” located on the lawn of UCF /CREATIVE VILLAGE, 425 W. Livingston St, Orlando, 32801
“Hollow Point 101” located on sidewalk, adjacent to CANVAS INTERIORS STORE, 784 N. Orange Ave, Winter Park, 32789
“ Virtual Studio” located at the front lawn of SAM FLAX ART STORE, 1800 E. Colonial Dr, Orlando, 32803
“Virtual Studio” located at THE MALL AT MILLENIA, 4200 Conroy Rd, Orlando, FL 32839. Inquire at Concierge.
INSIDE OUT PROJECT
“Dreamers” located at the parking of JES BAUMAN SALON, 1043 N. Mills, Orlando, 32803
MARK GMEHLING
“Turbo Oops” located at the back alley of SNAP! SPACE GALLERY, 710 Thornton Ave, Orlando, 32803
CAN BÜYÜKBERBER
“Ray:Trace” located at the lawn of SEASIDE BANK, 32 W. Robinson Orlando, 32801
MATTHEW SWENSON
“Silv[AR] Clouds” located at the lawn of LAKE EOLA PARK, 227 N. Eola Dr, Orlando, 32801
FELICE GRODIN
“Below Sea Level” located at the front lawn of DR. PHILLIPS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, 445 S. Magnolia Ave, Orlando, 32801.
