Ackso-LookingOutwards07

An art collective called “MoMAR” (Museum of Modern Augmented Reality?) recently released their first exhibition at MoMA. However, the museum was not informed of this, because they placed their work directly over an existing Jackson Pollock exhibit with AR. This format has a similar message to pieces like when Banksy put his own paintings over ones in a gallery, but in a less aggressive way. The aim of this exhibition was to counteract the fact that “art is owned, valued, and defined by ‘the elite'”. In particular, the artists felt that members of the general public have been reduced to the roles of passive observers because only the richest galleries are canonized. They subverted this trend by not only making fun of the situation, but also giving the public an active role in viewing the work through AR. One could criticize the content itself for being shallow since it relies on the surprise and wonder people have for this fresh new technology. However, the content may be quickly understood, but that doesn’t make it any worse than the inaccessible, “deep”, and highly conceptual work they are covering up. In fact, the work’s accessibility underlines their main argument with this show: art is for everyone.