The American artist Kaws exhibits his pop pieces at the Serpentine Gallery in London and in a virtual replica of the museum, located within Fortnite.
American artist Kaws installed this Tuesday his pop paintings and colored sculptures in the Serpentine Gallery in London but also in the virtual replica of the museum, located within Fortnite, the video game with hundreds of millions of followers.
Amidst the frozen grass of Hyde Park in central London, onlookers point their phones at the roof of the Serpentine Gallery.
But not to take photos of the red brick building and white columns but because, thanks to their mobile phones, A large sculpture of a blue man sitting on the roof, invisible to the naked eye, appears in augmented reality.
The sculpture belongs to the New Yorker, in whose exhibition, Kaws: New FictionThe virtual and the real are intertwined.
The exhibition is made up of “three layers”, he explains to the AFP the artistic director Hans-Ulrich Obrist. “There is the physical exhibition in the Serpentine Gallery with paintings and sculptures, then the augmented reality elements and also the Serpentine Gallery in Fortnite”, one of the most popular video games in the world.
For one week, the 400 million fans of the Epic Games game have access to an exact replica of the museum inside the videogame, which they can walk around with their avatar to see the works.
Epic Games has similarly collaborated with internationally renowned singers to perform in-game concerts.
“But it is the first time that Fortnite collaborates with the visual arts, with a public gallery”, dice Obrist.
Although he considers that it is “very different” to see an exhibition in a game or physically, he believes that the experiences are “complementary”, especially since many visitors unfamiliar with the world of video games may be interested in them, and vice versa.
“For us, it is about reaching very different audiences” and creating “a transgenerational dialogue”, adds the art director.
Comfort zone
“The average age of Fortnite players”, very popular with teenagers, “is much younger than the average museum visitor,” he stresses Hans-Ulrich Obrist, that “he hopes that a whole new generation approaches the gallery”.
Especially since this project “will reach an audience that is probably ten times larger than that of the Venice Biennale,” says the exhibition’s curator, Daniel Birnbaum.
Also for the artist, Brian Donnelly (his real name), the interest lies in making his work more accessible.
“I am interested to know that my work can be seen by a child in India and also in London”, said to the AFP the 47-year-old painter and sculptor. “It is fascinating”.
“Suddenly such a large community is going to be able to go to the museum, to see these paintings and sculptures,” the former graffiti artist turned visual artist is pleased.
“I think that for some children it will be the first time they feel comfortable, inside an exhibition”, dice.
no shootings
His stylized skull-headed characters have already been seen around the world, in giant installations and promotional products.
And now they will be able to appeal to the younger Fortnite audience with their pop, approachable and colorful look.
Kaws, who collaborates for the second time with Fortnite, explains that his works will be exhibited in the “creative hub”, a specific mode of the game away from the games where players fight to be the last survivor.
“There will be no shootings at the exhibition,” he jokes, assuring that the gaming community is “different than we think.”
As for whether players will actually stop to look at his works in-game, “it’s hard to say,” the artist acknowledges.
“If you take an eleven-year-old boy to a traditional museum, you don’t know if he’s going to look at the works. Is the same”, ensures. (I)
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