Friday 20 May 2011

Virtual Pavilion -- Venice Augmented

by Amir Baradaran

When in Venice for the 54th Biennale, search and discover media and performance artist Amir Baradaran's new visible (in)visible project Venice Augmented, active surrounding many of Giardini di Castello and Arsenale pavilions from June 1 throughout the duration of the the Biennale.

Using Augmented Reality (AR) as art, Amir Baradaran projects new meanings and movements onto the environment. As Baradaran states, "I am interested in how small acts of resistance, particularly within so-called virtual domains, can create pockets of transformation.  Seeking to generate much more than novel surprise, my art explores new ways of being."

Comprising a number of (un)seen attributes embedded throughout the docks and garden, Augmented Venice promises a landmark addition to the Biennale. Accessible to visiting publics through a number of activation points  scattered throughout the Venice landscape, the project is among the first Augmented Reality works to feature at the Biennale.

Moving from previous projects using both graphic- and facial- recognition activators (also called "markers" or "points of interest"), Baradaran's project for Venice pays homage to the city's rich history of Classical portrait painting and avant-garde Italian Futurist Movement.  Venice Augmented builds on previous infiltration of the Louvre Museum in Paris with Frenchising Mona Lisa, and the New York City FutARism Manifesto performance.

This year, Baradaran goes viral in Venice.

Here, in the city of cities, after built to fail, and after the crash and whimper proved the material immateriality of things, futARism emerges. We long for those rituals and traditions of eon that still resonate, while making meaning from the ether.   Augmented Reality is our tool; love, divine and exquisite, our guide!
 --Amir Baradaran, FutARism Manifesto excerpt 2011

Born in Tehran and raised in Montreal, Amir Baradaran's experience in academia and activism led him to pursue an artistic practice. Working in a variety of mediums, Baradaran engages the realm of speculative, participatory public experiences through the exploration of notions of technology and identity. Recently, under the title FutARism , he employed Augmented Reality (AR) as a new installation medium. The experiential, conceptual and legal shifts presupposed by the advent of AR connect to Baradaran's interest in radical subjectivities, failed utopias and mysticism. Iterations include the AR installations Frenchising Mona Lisa (Louvre Museum, Paris, France) and Takeoff (The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY). Past works include Transient (2010), a series of video installations in New York City taxis (approx. 1.5 million viewers), and The Other Artist Is Present (2010), a guerrilla performance in four acts at Museum of Modern Art. Baradaran's work was also featured at Miami Art Week 2010 as a part of the exhibition Voyeur, presented by Young Patrons of the American Friends of The Louvre.

For more information please visit: www.AmirBaradaran.com

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