Augmented Reality Activism - Augmented Reality Art - page 5

Fig. 1.3 Krzysztof
Wodiczko, Projection on
South Africa House ,Trafalgar
Square, London, (1985)
(Images reproduced under
creative commons)

the newly invented flash photography technology. Riis pioneered the use the flash
to capture images in the dark alleyways and interiors of the tenements and slums of
New York City. Riis's images had previously been impossible to create before the
use of the flash (Yochelson et al. 2007 ).
More recently art activist Krzysztof Wodiczko began pioneering guerilla projec-
tion; he utilized very powerful machines capable of projecting images onto entire
buildings facades (see Fig. 1.3 ). In 1985 he famously projected a swastika onto the
South African Embassy in London for a period of about 2 h before it was shut down
by the police. Although the work was short lived photos of the intervention were
circulated around the global press reaching the eyes of millions (Barnet 2009 ).

1.3 Augmented Reality Activism

Activist approaches of the past may have become less effective or may not have
worked as effectively against the new tactics of the political and financial elite. The
techniques used by the ancient Egyptian royal necropolis workers to organize may
not have been as effective if duplicated for a twentieth century occupation.