Augmented Reality: Activist Wallpaper

Original Art: Syrus Marcus Ware FCS Design: Creator of AR Experience (Special mentioning: Ravyn Wngz, for description edits. Todd DeKoker, for poster recreation assistance.) For the VMF Winter Arts 2021 installation, ”Activist Wallpaper Series: Vancouver”, FCS was inspired by Syrus’ activist portrait series, where he created “large-scale portraits of activists/revolutionaries/community mobilizers as a way of celebrating activists culture” and “began exploring portraiture and painting also as a way of painting his community into art history, and as a way to document his reality.” FCS reimagined how to recognize the original artwork series, and the activists, by creating a custom AR engine in working closely with Syrus. When visiting “Activist Wallpaper Series: Vancouver” a beautifully designed wallpaper (based on Syrus’ exhibit “Black August”, redesigned by FCS to make it AR-enabled) comes to life with photos and descriptions of seven local Vancouver activists: Thandi Young, Melisse Watson, !Kona, QueenTite Opaleke, Dainty Smith, Kyisha Williams, and Josh Vettivelu. As the portraits appear, you can feel their strength, displayed as “an act of reverence, a celebration of life and of choice and of action(s).”  for more info on Syrus: www.syrusmarcusware.com for more info on the ARtwork: www.winterartsfest.com/blog/vmf-winter-arts-2021-artist-syrus-marcus-ware