En Plein Air in Plain Sight - art and augmented reality

Summer is also festival season, the perfect time to combine holidays and culture. If you're in Ireland, then don't miss the eighth Skibbereen Arts Festival in Glandore, West Cork. Five weeks where all forms of art are celebrated with events for the whole family.



The Skibbereen Arts Festival in Glandore, West Cork, Ireland is celebrating its eighth edition and this year's visitors will even be treated to an iceberg. The iceberg in question is “En Plein Air In Plain Sight”, the installation of a virtual iceberg by Australian artist John Kelly whose work spans various forms of art - painting, printmaking, sculpture and now augmented reality (AR).
Because the virtual iceberg off the Glandore Harbour coastline is invisible to the naked eye, and only appears against the clear Irish sky if you view the bay by means of your smart phone using the free app called gaz(AR). And as you can see from the screenshots here, the effect is astounding.





This virtual iceberg is an “environmental”-scale, sculptural version of one of the most iconic images from John Kelly's set of his fifty-seven paintings produced on his expedition to Antarctica, and meets the need to exhibit this artwork in a way that suits the spirit of the open-air painting, which is so often lost when displayed in art galleries and museums





“En Plein Air In Plain Sight” uses augmented reality to bring the subject matter back out to the elements - virtually at least - and in this case the sea off the town of Glandore. This way, artists can at least partly share their real-world view and the en-plein-air spirit that was alive at the point of creation so viewers have a chance at experiencing the with more empathy. 





In addition to the iceberg installation for Glandore Harbour curated by Seol Park, SPARK +, the paintings created in Antarctica and a series of new Irish landscape paintings, focused on the land and sea around Reen in West Cork where John Kelly lived for a while will be exhibited and accompanied by a publication produced and edited by Peter Fitzgerald. 

Christiane Bürklein

“En Plein Air In Plain Sight” installation from 22 July to 31 August 2016
during the Skibbereen Arts Festival, Glandore, Ireland.
Curating Producer: Seol Park, Spark Art Management NYC
Technology Council: Yan Nuriyev
Images: courtesy of SPARK +
Find out more: http://www.skibbereenartsfestival.com/john-kelly-a-group-show