Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
previous experience of the author of this chapter indicates a strong possibility. He
started selling his limited edition art prints in 2009 via the Online VG Art Gallery
(Geroimenko
2009
), Amazon and eBay. To date, many signed gallery-quality prints
of his digital paintings have been sold to private collections in several countries (UK,
USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Finland,
Malta, Brazil, Mexico, Russia and Belarus).
Therefore, it is quite possible to conclude that this type of augmented reality
painting is in principle saleable, because the physical part of an augmented reality
painting is essentially identical to a regular art print sold by the author earlier. This
also means that in a good augmented painting, the physical part (e.g. art print)
should have a significant artistic value on its own, since it is supposed to be exposed
on a wall all the time. Its augmented reality component may complete the painting
in several ways (e.g. visually, conceptually or aesthetically), but only from time to
time (when someone is viewing the painting through an AR-enabled device).
The saleability of augmented reality sculptures is much less certain, and presum-
ably depends on the type and also the size of a sculptural artwork. Small augmented
reality artworks (figurines, busts, carvings, and the like) that are based on the use
of augmented reality markers and image recognition technology can in principle be
put for sale in the same way as the augmented reality paintings described above. In
such a case, an augmented reality sculptural artwork has to consist of the following
two parts: a small-size augmented reality sculpture (the main part) and a marker (the
auxiliary part). The latter can be a purely technical (but aesthetically good) pattern
to trigger and to correctly place the 3D digital sculpture or it can be a printed or
painted artwork that is meaningfully connected and artistically integrated with the
main piece of art, namely the augmented reality sculpture
per se
. Figure
10.10
shows
an experimental work of this type produced by the author: an abstract augmented
reality statuette (a simple 3D shape) placed on top of a conceptually unrelated
(meaningless) augmented reality marker - a black and white print of a surrealist
painting by the author.
Our working hypothesis is that this type of sculpture could be saleable in a similar
way as the described augmented reality paintings. The buyer would have purchased
an augmented marker (that itself could constitute an artwork) and place it on the
floor, on a table, on a wall, and the like. After this the art collector can enjoy
the “hidden” AR sculptural artwork by making it visible in an augmented reality
browser and by moving himself or herself around it in order to see the 3D creative
work from any possible angle.
An “opposite” large-scale type of augmented reality sculpture may include
gigantic artworks that are placed into a physical location using GPS technology
rather than visual markers. Such artworks are suitable for city squares, historic
landscapes and similar vast environments. It seems unlikely (at least, at the moment)
that such augmented reality sculpture can be sold via Amazon or eBay. However, an
artist could be commissioned to produce a sizeable augmented reality sculpture by,
for example, a City or Art Council.
