Augmented Reality – Karyn Easton

Augmenting the Book

Augmenting the Balance of Power Book – As part of my body of work I felt that it was really useful to produce an explanatory book all about the ‘Balance of Power – Unity in Bits’ mobile. When I began the journey into the augmentation of the book I hadn’t really planned to shoot many clips, just enough to fill any gaps in my final film (Film Mark 2) and to give a flavour of the fully augmented book. However, as I began creating each clip I decided to go ahead and augment the full book. This needed to be done anyway as it will form part of my body of work. Once each of the pages had been augmented with video I decided to run all of the clips together to see how it looked. What I hadn’t necessarily expected was that the total length of the resulting film was just over 7 minutes. I wondered therefore, would it be possible to trim and tweak these clips to make the resulting film exactly 5 minutes? My thinking was that this would afford me yet another possibility in terms of films to choose from. I was also keen to experiment […]

Apr 23

by Karyn in Artists, Augmented Reality, Film Production, Final Major Project, My Work, Unit 3 Blogs 0 comments tags: Artists, Augmented Reality, Film Production, Final Major Project, my work, Unit 3 Blogs

Balance of Power Book

Concept, Rationale and Reasoning As part of my overall body of work, I decided to fully augment a large square art book. This book contains images of the ‘Balance of Power’ mobile along with examples of some of the surface patterns used in its creation. However, most importantly it helps to explain both the rationale and concept behind the piece itself. At the start of the project I wanted to gather many views from across the arts, about AI generated art. Over the last few years it has become increasingly evident that people involved in the arts industry have both wittingly and unwittingly been exploited by the big tech giants. This is not only true for the artists who have had their work taken often without knowledge and consent, but also for the image/data ‘taggers’ at the ‘bottom of the food chain’ who facilitated all of this. I figured that in the first instance enlisting the help of more well known artists might help encourage voices of others, thus creating a snowball effect. Therefore, in the initial stages I approached some of my favourite more famous artists and invited them to comment on their feelings regarding AI generated art. I […]

Apr 15

by Karyn in Augmented Reality, Final Major Project, Final Outcomes, Photography, Unit 3 Blogs 0 comments tags: Augmented Reality, Final Major Project, Final Outcomes, Photography, Unit 3 Blogs

Book Creation

The Balance of Power Book – I decided to produce another augmented reality book to accompany my ‘Balance of Power – Unity in Bits’ mobile. The mobile has multiple layers of meaning. However, unless the viewer is aware of this, then so many of the messages being conveyed by the structure may sadly be lost. Therefore, I thought it was important to produce an accompanying art book. This will help to unpack some of the mystery as to why the mobile came into being. I think that because I’m really not feeling well at the moment (awful food poisoning) I’m finding it so much harder to be creative. I’m frightened that I’m going to fall at the last hurdle. I’ve never ever felt so devoid of creativity in my life. I’m finding that even basic decisions like choosing images to go into my book really challenging at the moment. I really was a struggle when I had to decide on cover designs. This was not easy. Screenshots of the Book Below are a few screenshots of the book. I decided to design a book so that anyone viewing the mobile could understand some of the rationale behind it. I would […]

Feb 04

by Karyn in 3d, Augmented Reality, Collaborations, Experimentation, Photography, Problem Solving, Risk Taking, Unit 3 Blogs 0 comments tags: 3d, Augmented Reality, Collaborations, Experimentation, Photography, Problem Solving, Risk Taking, Unit 3 Blogs

Keep it Moving

Small Steps – Big Changes. I had to write yesterday off almost completely as I had so many non MA activities to complete. These duties ranged from setting up a new phone for a family member, to composing and posting an important letter. However, today was much more productive. I managed to test my concept and augment a number of my mobile elements. Early indicators suggest that ‘all things going well’ – I should be able to realise my vision. My greatest fear was that the mobile wouldn’t augment very well. I also worried that the elements were too close together, and as such would interfere with one another when augmenting. It appears that as long as the user/viewer is careful then each item should augment separately. Up to this point it has been a bit of a risk. Today the concept however was tested and seems to work. Athena the robot continues to 3d print but this activity is also not without risk. Jamie (my collaboration partner’s) 3d printer isn’t always consistent and parts often become loose from the 3d printer bed. This ultimately leads to print failures which is slowing down the project. On a more positive […]

Nov 19

Epic Making Session

Yaacov Agam Inspired Work – Over many months now I have been wrestling with a myriad of ideas. In my Study Statement I was keen to develop a new form of hybrid human, digital and AI art. I also wanted to include an element of mystery and discovery whereby elements of the work were hidden. During my search for inspiration I came across two artists that particularly resonated with me, namely: Alexander Calder and Yaacov Agam. I particularly liked the idea of movement and mobile art seen in Calder’s work. Indeed I was so taken with his work that I went to visit the Tate Modern to see some of his pieces there. However, Yaacov Agam’s work really did inspire me. In his Artist’s statement he says: “My aim is to show the visible in a perpetual state of becoming”. I think this is a beautiful way in which he describes his work. However, I personally would liken it to, showing the visible in a perpetual state of change. Given the nature of the subject matter that I’m exploring, his work for me very much aligns with this notion of change as well as ‘becoming’. Below is a short […]

Love Letters From AI

Hidden Art – When I first began my MA, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do. Ultimately I knew it would be something to do with the hidden or the unseen. Initially I began looking at invisible phenomena such as sound waves and the passage of time. However, nothing captured my interest quite as much as augmented reality. It was this whole concept of a hidden unseen world (only accessible to those ‘in the know’), that intrigued me. While conducting research for my Research Paper I discovered that there is a distinct negative bias towards AI generated art. I looked at a number of strategies to help mitigate this bias. Finally, after a number of image polls, used to inform my project, I created a fictitious robot called Athena. Her name was inspired by the old Athena posters from the past. My research was suggesting that humanoid robots with a sad ‘backstory’ could help to reduce bias and win over an audience when presenting AI art. At this point I began to develop a narrative for my robot. During a visit to Barcelona, I was completely amazed by the sheer weight of graffiti adorning the city walls. I […]

Nov 02

by Karyn in 3d, Abstract Art, Augmented Reality, Experimentation, My Work, Risk Taking, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: 3d, Abstract Art, Augmented Reality, Experimentation, my work, Risk Taking, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Mental Derive Part #3

Made with a Mobile – As the deadline to Unit 2 rapidly approaches I’m aware that I really need to be pulling together all of my ideas. I have been trying to build a number of skills lately and it’s been quite a steep learning curve. I’ve explored augmented reality through my 21 day challenge. I’ve explored projection mapping, physical book printing and 3d paper sculpture via my Grotto Print. I’ve also explored drawing which appeared on my mobile 3d kinetic art piece. However, today I managed to return to my first love that is photography. This afternoon I decided to make two short films showing the beautiful motion created by my mobile. The background to this particular mobile piece can be found in ‘Mental Derive’ Part #1 and ‘Mental Derive’ Part #2. I deliberately shot both short videos using a very wide aperture as I wanted to add depth to my film. I wanted to see the patterns on the mobile slowly come in and out of focus as they gently glide backwards and forwards. I think that I managed to do this. Please see below for the two videos created today. Kinetic Art with a Mobile […]

Oct 27

MACBA Metamorphosis

Barcelona’s Hidden Artists – While visiting Barcelona, I became fascinated with the vast swathes of graffiti covered walls. It felt as if collectively everyone had given up on cleaning the walls. Indeed, it felt as if the walls themselves had become works of art. In stark contrast I also noted the pristine internal walls of the MACBA (One of Barcelona’s contemporary art museums). I was so ‘taken with’ the beautiful light inside of the MACBA that I decided to photograph it. I also photographed many graffiti laden walls across Barcelona. There really was a such a stark contrast between the pristine and the messy that I began to wonder what the MACBA would look like if it was plastered in graffiti? The internal walls of the MACBA were so beautifully clean that I felt an irresistible urge to ‘plaster’ them. The vibrant colours and designs found externally on the Streets of Barcelona seemed a logical choice. Unfortunately, my dream of taking spray paints to the MACBA walls was pretty much out of the question. However, I did have access to Photoshop, Ai and augmented reality. As a direct result of my thinking I managed to self publish 3 small art […]

Aug 03

by Karyn in 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, Evaluations, My Learning, My Work, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, Evaluations, My Learning, my work, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs

21 Day Challenge – Outcomes

Wednesday 9th August – “Darkness falls Walking empty corridors Dusty roads Seeing things never shown You and I we know” – Soldier by Particle House The MACBA Metamorphosis book is available to buy and if anyone would like a copy then please see the barcode at the bottom of this post. However, so that no purchase is necessary, I am including images from the book along with their corresponding augmented reality experiences. This means anyone reading this blog can experiment for themselves and no-one is excluded. Background Information & A Few Pages from MACBA Metamorphosis The MACBA Metamorphosis book forms part two of a planned 3 part series that begins with the exploration of Graffiti in the heart of Barcelona. The project enlists the help of Ai to re-imagine this graffiti and digital tools are used to place it on the pristine walls of the MACBA museum. Book one in this series is called ‘Beautiful Light – MACBA – Barcelona’ and more details can be found about it here. This book has already been augmented using a simple iPhone App except with limited functionality. However the results can be seen in the video below. […]

Aug 02

by Karyn in 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs

21 Day Challenge – Day #21

Wednesday 2nd August – Well this is it! The end of my challenge – although I suspect it’s really just the beginning of my venture into augmented reality. I got off to a slow start. For some reason I couldn’t quite think what I wanted to do this morning. However, I know I’ve still got quite a long way to go so I need to find some motivation from somewhere. As I suspected I didn’t finish everything that I wanted to do. My back got progressively worse and I had to ‘give in’ – I’m now writing retrospectively. My back continued to decline over the next two days to the point that I could not move from the floor! Friday 4th August was particularly severe. Having laid on the floor for around 2 hours I could not stand the pain any longer. I managed to speak to a GP who said I was suffering with a severe bout of sciatica. He prescribed me morphine! This did at least help me to get off the floor! For this reason I reluctantly decided to write off the final day of my challenge. My plan is to try to recover over the weekend […]