September 2nd 2020

Okay first, what is extended reality? External reality, is a broad term used to describe riveting technologies that merges physical and virtual worlds. Nina Chanel Abney and an extended reality (XR) company Acute Art to launch a new augmented reality (AR) artwork.  On August 28th, Imaginary Friend (2020) had made its first appearance in Washington, D.C. and it's accessible to everyone via the company’s application. This work was intended to commemorate the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream”, speech, as well as the “Get your knee off our necks”march, which took place on August 29th. 

So, what Nina Channel Abney andAcute Art created was an AR sculpture. AR is a term that describes an interactive experience between computer generated objects residing in the real world. According to a press release, the AR sculpture unfolds a story of “a modern day sage”who attempts to give a blessing to a friend, despite that friend’s pessimism. The monumental version of the virtual sculpture will be on view in Chicago, the Grand Canyon, New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC in the United States; Paris, London, and Berlin in Europe; and Tokyo in Asia. There will also be a version available on the app that users can place and interact with in their own home.

Inspired by the mythological characters and disincarnate guides whom people turn to in times of trouble, and in collaboration with artists who understand the value of humour in processing grief, trauma, and distress, I created “Imaginary Friend” to offer participants an always-ready companion to mitigate the uncertainty and precarity of today. “Imaginary Friend” asks us to keep at the heart, the value of collective life and public interaction at a moment that threatens to push us further toward alienated being.

Imaginary Friend marks the latest far-reaching collaboration between an artist and Acute Art. In March, the company launched a global exhibition of monumental AR KAWS sculptures, along with a series of small-scale virtual sculptures that could be placed around the home. In May, the company collaborated with Olafur Eliasson to release an AR project, dubbed Wunderkammer (2020).

Let's see how augmented reality and virtual reality play out amidst this unprecedented pandemic.