3 Ways Digital Art is Revolutionising Interactive Events

As technology advances, we’ve seen a boom in the use of Digital Art for public exhibition and events. Local council groups and businesses have taken the opportunity to present digital art on a much larger scale with a greater social impact.

Future is Vivid

Most recently Sydney has been celebrating the latest innovations in art with Vivid, a festival of light , music and ideas which creates new cultural experiences for Sydney locals and visitors to enjoy.

Just like traditional art, digital art has the capability to activate spaces, however at an amplified level, owing to advances in technology which transcends the physical limitations.

So why does Vivid and creative organisations globally choose to employ digital art in their events? 

Digital Art is Scalable

In its traditional forms art can become confined by its medium. When digitalised, however, an A4 page can be sized up to decorate whole buildings; it can be cropped and stretched to wrap around a 360 display and animated to introduce unique moving dynamics. 

Yarrkalpa - Hunting Ground, 2021 by the Martu Artists and Curiious with soundtrack by Electric Fields and Martu Artists (Inspired by Yarrkalpa – Always Walking Country 2014)

w. https://www.vividsydney.com/event/light/lighting-of-the-sails

i. @martumiliartists @curiiousimmersiveimpact @electricfields_music

At Vivid 2022, a new digital work ‘Yarrkalpa - Hunting Ground, 2021’ was projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Through digital manipulation and an accompanying soundtrack, the original static painting made in 2013 was brought to life, reflecting a vivacious Parnngurr community and its surrounding landscape.

Digitalisation has become an incredibly powerful tool, liberating art from its traditionally physical limitations and enabling it to warp, distort and interact on a scale large enough to bring together the whole of Sydney in a shared experience.

Digital Art is Immersive

Through VR and AR technology people can place themselves at the centre of artworks or even become the artwork itself. 

Vivid this year featured the internationally award winning VR experience ‘Tree’ which let’s users envision themselves as their own unique tree with branches for arms and a trunk replacing their body over a lifetime allowing a literal experience of growth.

And it’s not just Vivid - immersive art projects are captivating audiences all over the world. The MORI building by teamLab Borderless in Tokyo, Japan was named the world’s most visited single artist museum, with over half its international visitors claiming they visited Japan solely to see the immersive exhibitions.

Digital Art is Interactive

Digital art has the capability to visualise real time data instantaneously, creating a unique piece of art inextricable from the moment of interaction. 

Vivid reflections used motion capture technology to project the movements of visitors onto the landmark clock tower of Central Station, creating a large-scale spectacle of art including themselves.

Refik Anadol collaborating with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

w. https://refikanadol.com/

i. @refikanadol

Audio data can also be used to generate art. In collaboration with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Refik Anadol used custom AI to listen to Beethoven, and “dream” a visually dynamic alternative architecture which was projected to the concert audience.

‘Mystics’ by Babekhul, Jono Ma and Jonti at Carriageworks for Vivid 2022.

w. https://babekuhl.com/project/mystics/

i. @babekuhl @jontidanimals @jono.ma

Babekuhl’s project ‘Mystics’ in collaboration with musicians Jono Ma and Jonti relied on their own manning of digital and musical tools to create an immersive storytelling experience. Enabled by technology, Babekuhl, Jono Ma and Jonti engaged in a feedback loop where sonic and visual elements could be immediately edited and displayed as the performance progressed. 

“It was created more like how a band would jam to make music, except in this case we were making images and music. Very rarely do you work on something like this where you don't really have a clear picture of the end result but you head off in a direction that feels right.”

- Billy Ryan from Babekuhl. 

Sharing experiences through art with Sugar Glider Digital

Sugar Glider Digital seeks to make the art space highly visible, unlocking a world of opportunities for art to be displayed without physical constraints. 

Through digital mediums our art facilitates real interaction, allowing viewers to embody art completely, or by letting the art decide how it reflects real life.