WPAR APP: Eilis O’Connell, Six Works – AR
The ‘Eilis O’Connell, Six Works – Augmented Reality was the first augmented reality exhibition of art to be held in Ireland. It was launched in February 2020 by the Royal Hibernian Academy and IPUT in Wilton Park, Dublin 2.Â
Eilis O’Connell RHA, one of the most accomplished sculptors working in Ireland today, agreed to partake in this experimental format. Her large-scale work can be seen in London, Bristol, Dublin and Cork. Her work can also be viewed in the collections of the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Crawford Gallery in Cork. Four of the pieces in this selection are a tribute to the Irish born French-based 20th Century designer Eileen Gray and were shown on the grounds of Gray’s famous house on the Cote d’Azur, E1027, in the summer of 2018.
IPUT and the RHA commissioned us to create a virtual sculpture exhibition of Eilis O’Connell’s work for Wilton Park in Dublin. IPUT sponsored a number of Art initiatives with the Royal Hibernian Academy, and this was something that was an interesting and new experience for everyone.Â
We visited her studio in Cork and took reference photographs and measurements so that we could reconstruct them digitally. We created six pieces in total, four from the Eileen Gray series and two other pieces. Accuracy in form, material and light had to be considered to represent the sculpture properly, and we worked closely with the artist in this respect. Once the models were created, we then designed and built an AR application to display them.
The visitor downloads the app at the park and then uses the app to view the AR models that are tracked to QR-code tiles set into the ground. The visitor can move around the digital sculpture in full 3D, and the material of the sculptures reacts to the light conditions on the day. The visitor can also explore the sculpture in 3D without the AR experience if they wish.Â
The app WPAR is available for both iOS and Android.
For more information visit:
http://www.rhagallery.ie/exhibitions/six-works-augumented-reality/