LACMA + snapchat bring artist-designed augmented reality monuments to L.A. (and your home)

‘what other histories need monumentalizing?’ — this question led los angeles county museum of art (LACMA) and snap inc. to assemble a roster of artists and technologists to create virtual monuments that reflect on history and representation across the city of L.A. in response, five augmented reality monuments have been designed and built using snapchat’s technology, and are available to experience starting today — april 13. each artwork seeks to illuminate how we can re-imagine commemorative spaces across the country through a new lens.

designboom spoke with LACMA CEO, michael govan, and snap’s head of camera platform partnerships, sophia dominguez, about the project and the possibilities of augmented reality in the art world. ‘in the cultural sector, artists lead and drive innovation,’ michael govan tells designboom. ‘as part of our mission to nurture and champion creativity we are eager to empower artists wherever we can. for decades, LACMA has supported and encouraged the intersection of art and technology through our exhibitions and special initiatives. ‘monumental perspectives’ is one example of how a partnership with a company like snap can empower artists to make bold and boundary-pushing works that are relevant to our times.’

¡vendedores, presente! by ruben ochoa responds to L.A.’s complex history with street vendors

the projects that form part of LACMA x snapchat: monumental perspectives have been designed to be experienced at locations across los angeles through the snapchat camera, at sites including LACMA, macarthur park, earvin ‘magic’ johnson park, and los angeles memorial coliseum. those in the area can discover the virtual monuments by looking for their markers on the map in snapchat, which pinpoint their locations and more details about each work. the monuments can also be viewed by anyone around the world, wherever they are at home or exploring the streets of their own city, by heading to lacma.org/monumental on mobile devices.

ochoa pays homage to the critical role of street vendors in L.A.’s culture and economy

‘snap’s lens technology makes it easy for anyone to experience these monuments through augmented reality using their mobile phone,’ sophia dominguez tells designboom. ‘we hope that through the shared creative vision of these artists and snap lens creators, our technology brings their art and stories to new audiences, allowing anyone to step inside new worlds in public spaces. by creating augmented reality monuments, the experience of storytelling is democratized, and anyone can experience and celebrate untold stories of communities across los angeles. artists who are interested in exploring AR can also use lens studio, our powerful and free creation platform that lets anyone build and publish their own AR experiences to snapchat.’

ruben ochoa, ¡vendedores, presente!, 2021

the virtual experiences include mercedes dorame’s immersive portal between past, present, and future worlds for indigenous presence in contemporary tovaangar (los angeles); I.R. bach’s animations designed to inspire self-reflection; glenn kaino’s path of generational stories of connectedness along the 1932 L.A. olympic marathon route; ruben ochoa’s homage to the shared history of street vendors in the city; and ada pinkston’s memorial series paying tribute to biddy mason.

‘museums think about how to share art history from a wide, institutional level,’ govan says on how the chosen artists each contribute a different conversation around american history.‘when considering the artists who would be included in the launch of monumental perspectives, we were interested in those who had personal, local points of view and how their experiences and interests speak to our lives in relation to our many overlapping communities and the rest of the world. the resulting monuments are different from one another, but each presents a unique perspective to help us consider what representations of american histories should and could be told in public art.’

the timely initiative explores key moments and figures in the region’s past and present, and interprets the traditional notions of monumentality through the lens of augmented reality. ‘amid the events of this past summer when monuments were being taken down, we realized that we don’t have time to wait to build new monuments in bronze,’ govan continues. ‘we all need to be discussing and monumentalizing these different histories now. throughout los angeles and at home via snapchat, visitors can now experience virtual monuments that are alive and textured and of the current moment, which hopefully will open doors for important and timely conversations.’

a narrative thread connects generations of people, businesses, and organizations along the route

‘for museums, one of the interesting questions about augmented reality technology is how artworks can be produced in new ways,’ govan says, in reflecting on the future of augmented reality in the art world. ‘it also questions how our reality can be reframed and reconsidered by this technology that provides a new way of seeing things that already exist, whether that’s reinterpreting history, talking about important issues of the day, or coming up with entirely new formats to engage audiences. augmented reality technology that interacts with this real world — artworks, our lives, and our spaces — is going to take us in directions that we can’t even imagine.’

glenn kaino, no finish line, 2021

ada pinkston drew from archival images of african american residents in 19th century los angeles

ada pinkston, the open hand is blessed, 2021

portal for tovaangar creates an immersive portal that links past, present, and potential future worlds

mercedes dorame, portal for tovaangar, 2021

a simple action such as moving through a park may turn into an experience worth memorializing

I.R. bach, think big, 2021