ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Through the 12 weeks of the Adobe Aero Artist Residency it was my goal to explore how meaningful interactivity with virtual beings and objects could work in augmented reality. From an art perspective this has allowed me to bring my JOYs to life through animation and one-on-one interactions opening up a new realm of real-time storytelling.
What I’ve learned about AR as a medium is that it isn’t really a medium. You may say it's a piece of media like a canvas but it’s more like site-specific, or when you share it, site-un-specific art. It’s exciting now but as AR becomes a core technology in more devices, it will just be like ordinary space. The art that augments it will be wild and varied beyond what we can dream up today and is what will make it really special.
On the tech side I learned a lot about how optimized 3D files need to be to fit into a phone and work with ease. And from a personal learning perspective I realized I’m very obsessed with a fully fleshed-out and heavily developed art idea prior to sharing with anyone.
Utilizing cutting-edge technology as tools to bring my art to life I’m looking for a streamlined and intuitive process to express my ideas and Adobe Aero has allowed me to explore new ways of doing that.
To future artists jumping into AR or beginning this residency in later sessions, I highly recommend keeping a beginners mind for each project or exploration you make. Out the gate, I tried to concept everything out but as I began to add objects to my phone, things became bogged down. It was lighter and more fun to jump into Aero quicker and just start exploring.
Bend reality. Think about how other people will experience your creations. Explore multiple ways of creating works. Also, make a list of potential interactions and keep it next to you when creating new assets so you are thinking about how users will play.
My next moves in AR will be to create deeper, more shareable experiences. Focusing more on quality engagement with the work of art. Creating meaningful experiences for the JOY Collectors and spreading more JOY on earth.
