William Blake’s monsters are brought to life in the new Apple store in London through the magic of Augmented Reality (AR).
Australian artist duo Tin Nugyen and Ed cutting harness the capabilities of AR to display a life-like animation of The Spirit of the flea, 1820, through the augmented reality app United Visions.
AR or augmented reality is a technology that allows a user to superimpose a computer-generated/animated image onto the user’s real-world view, thereby creating an illusion of reality augmented with technology.
United Visions is a modern-day composition of William Blake’s works. Though unrecognized during his lifetime, the history of art remembers him for his contributions to poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. The project by the artist duo takes a specific interest in the creature painted in The Spirit of the Flea. A strange humanoid that emanates an aura of superhuman strength, with a stunted neck and a skull that is anything but human. To add to the mystery behind the inspiration of this painting, Blake’s longtime friend John Varley explains that “This spirit visited his imagination in such a figure as he never anticipated in an insect,” Varney is quoted as saying in the wall text. Text that accompanied the painting when it was an exhibit at Tate Britain in London, which owns the Blake piece.
Using AR, Blake’s flea spirit is brought to life as five or six 3D animated figures that have been spliced to make literal chimeras with other creatures from Blake’s works. A tiger’s head from his poem “The Tyger” (1974), and an eagle’s head from his depictions of St. John the Baptist.
This celebration of art and technology in London also includes an auditory element conceived by musician Just Blaze.