Augmented-reality exhibition launched to sell artwork during pandemic

Designer Sebastian Errazuriz has created an online exhibition that allows collectors to preview artworks in their home using augmented reality tools during the coronavirus pandemic.

With museums and galleries closed, and design and art fairs cancelled or postponed due to the crisis, Errazuriz and artist Zander Eckblad developed the platform called All Show so that artists can self-publish their work, and buyers can preview them at home.

Viewers can peruse artworks on the website on their smartphones. Once they find one they are interested, they can chose to preview them in the accompanying "See in AR" toggle, which launches a new page with a moving hand and phone icon.

AR allows for socially distanced exhibition

A prompt cues the user to find the ground level and to click the icon, triggering the artwork to appear inside their home. If they are interested in purchasing, they can contact the artist.

Among the works is New York designer Joe Doucet's Social Distancing Installation, which features a series of black statues. Doucet said that not only is All Show a commercial platform, it also allows people to enjoy artwork while remaining at home.

"There are extreme inefficiencies plaguing the art industry that AR can alleviate," said Errazuriz. "Collectors are hurting financially but will always be open to art investment opportunities, especially if these could help the very artists that inspire them."

Other works on show include Eric Cahan's "I'd kill for a Noble Peace Prize" graphic, Irene Soyfer's line-drawn women and Errazuriz's proposal to turn Notre-Dame cathedral into a rocket launchpad.

"The pandemic will usher the next wave of creative expression"

Errazuriz, who was born in Chile and raised in London, believes that the problems caused by the pandemic will encourage new ways to be creative.

"The pandemic will usher the next wave of creative expression," he said.

He believes that augmented reality will continue to have an impact on the type of art people make, and the way it is viewed, following the crisis.

"Augmented reality will disrupt the art and design world in the same way digital platforms disrupted the entire music industry or the news media industry or the film industry," he continued in a short film posted to his Instagram account.

"The future is here," Eckblad added "With the arrival of 5G, 3D scanning technology and augmented reality glasses; art as we know it will change forever. We are looking at the beginning of a new artworld."

Errazuriz controversially predicted the demise of the architecture profession at the hands of artificial intelligence.

"I think it's important that architects are warned as soon as possible that 90 per cent of their jobs are at risk," he said in a series of movies posted on his Instagram account.

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