Tech and the changing world of art
You may have flashbacks to the days of tedious school trips to museums. You enter a gallery, trek across pristine marble floors, and before long you find yourself staring past the art into the distance out of boredom. If you were lucky, the museum may have given you an audio set, where you can listen to a narration of the art on display. However, more often than not, you’d have to rely on your powers of self-interpretation to understand the artwork.
Johanna Martzy by Willard Wigan MBE (Image Credit: OPPO)
Elevating the art’s messaging is one of the challenges galleries face when trying to find the best way to display their art. Just hanging a piece of art on the wall doesn’t always convey the emotion or true story behind the piece to the viewer. In Business Insider’s piece which touches on this issue, designer Jake Barton says some museums have ‘failed to capture humans’ deep-seated love of storytelling.’
However, things are changing. It’s safe to say, the art world is no longer the one we may remember from a decade or so ago. Take a look at our recent campaign with renowned British artist, Willard Wigan MBE, which shows how art and technology are intersecting to. As an artist who creates microscopic pieces, Willard’s work has traditionally only been visible with the aid of a microscope. Now, thanks to the microlens feature of OPPO’s Find X3 Pro smartphone, the public can view the pieces with just a few clicks on an everyday device.
It doesn’t stop here. Excitedly, we’re seeing an increasing appetite from curators to artists to use tech to create and present art to convey its true power better.
Embracing immersive art
Galleries and artists are increasingly hungry to engage consumers of art with tech. In London, a well-known hub of art and culture, you don’t have to look very far to see evidence of this. Klimt: The Immersive Experience is an artist installation (opening from July 2022) that aims to bring the works of Austrian modernist, Gustav Klimt to life using 360 degrees projects and Virtual Reality.
Gustav Klimt Exhibit in London (Image Credit: Klimt - The Immersive Experience)
Similarly, at the September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York, visitors can use their smartphones to see what the site looked like pre-9/11. This is one of several ways tech is being used at the museum to elevate the user experience and honour the memory of lives lost during 9/11.
The shift to immersive art installations is more monumental than it seems. It shows that viewers are moving from passive consumers of art to active ones. They can interact with the pieces they’re seeing to unlock a new level of interpretation.
For galleries and museums this transition is a win/win. Most noticeably, it allows them to rebrand from being locations designed for the musings of the middle class to spaces that are accessible and inclusive. Artistic institutions like museums and galleries play a huge role in connecting young people and children with culture, as well as showcasing ‘the power of creativity,’ according to Art Fund .
It’s also about creating fun spaces that are family-friendly. 69% of individuals never visit as adults if they’re not taken to heritage locations as children, according to research company OnePoll. This suggests that instilling an appreciation of art in people needs to start at a young age. Thus, child development is another benefit of artistic institutions embracing tech.
What does this all mean for consumers?
Overall, these are hopefully reasons to be excited. Technology is opening new avenues to artistic institutions, allowing them to think more freely and experimentally about how they tell stories to engage visitors. This will play a vital part in a much needed rebrand for many artistic institutions as they seek to remain relevant and draw in more young people and children to visit.