Augmented reality has become increasingly common in our everyday lives. For many, like The Shed‘s chief curator Emma Enderby and artistic director of Acute Art, Daniel Burnbaum, it’s a portal to open new forms of creative possibilities.
In “Looking Glass,” The Shed has enlisted some of the worlds biggest artists, including Olafur Eliasson, KAWS and Nina Chanel Abney, to create an immersive experience that fits in the palm of your hand. “We wanted to call it ‘The Looking Glass’ because in a sense the phone has become this new kind of portal, a rabbit hole that takes us to all of these different worlds. We thought it would be interesting to embellish the story of Alice in Wonderland through a more technologically based lens,” in a recent interview with Artnews.
Walk along the grounds to find a series of blue pedestals, with a QR code and the name of the artist on top. Upon downloading the Acute Art app, viewers can scan and unveil work, such as KAWS Holiday Space (2020) figure, along with Maratus Speciosus (2021), a massive dancing spider by Thomás Saraceno.
“Looking Glass” is a free outdoor exhibition on view at The Shed until August 29.
Although this show is invisible, it isn’t like the invisible sculpture that sold for $18,000 USD.
The Shed
545 W 30th Street
New York, NY
10001
