Art Fair PH 2022 Art Trail: Here's How to Experience Leeroy New's Augmented Reality Art

Here's how you can experience the augmented reality art trail named after Leeroy New's Aparisyon at this year's Art Fair

This year's Art Fair Philippines is like no other. Since its last show in 2020, Art Fair merges the digital and physical with exhibitions and activities available for all to experience both onsite and online.

Apart from physical exhibitions where one will find artworks by Aze Ong, Bjorn Calleja, Doktor Karayom, Nune Alvarado, Ryan Jara, Johanna Helmuth, Tyang Karyel, and Wyndelle Remonde among others, attendees will also come across the fair's first-ever AR Art Trail named after Leeroy New's work, Aparisyon (Apparition).

This exciting interactive trail can be accessed through the Daata AR app, made by leading online gallery of digital art Daata.

Above Photo: Instagram / @makeitmakati

The experience is otherworldly. There is a QR code on a sign leading to the download link of the Daata AR app. Using the app, guests will have access to three of the Aparisyon experiences.

One of these is a facial filter where you can virtually embody one of New's creatures, where discarded plastic bottles collected during the pandemic are used to create an animalistic form.

Photo 1 of 2 Photo: Instagram / @newleeroy

Photo 2 of 2 A 'selfie' using the 'Aparisyon' face filter

Another experience brings the artist's sculpture right in front of you, through another augmented reality project by the same name of Aparisyon (Apparition). This time, you'll only need to point your camera device at a flat surface and watch the artist's piece come alive.

The sculpture featured shows an animalistic creature made with the same discarded plastic materials we've seen from the facial filter, one that hails from another universe seeking refuge as it also faces a climate emergency.

Photo 1 of 2 The 'Aparisyon' brings New's sculpture into life wherever you may be (Photo: Christine Andas)

Photo 2 of 2 The Daata AR app allows the sculpture to appear on screen (Photo: Christine Andas)

Lastly, the AR Art Trail offers its guests a doorway to several different visual realms that can only be accessed through the app. The third AR experience is a playlist titled Aparisyon which features works by artists like Keiken, Tuomas A Laitinen, Jeremy Couillard, Florian Meisenberg, and many more.

Photo 1 of 2 Screenshot from the Daata AR app

Photo 2 of 2 Screenshot of the 'Aparisyon' playlist from the Daata AR app

The concept borrows from speculative fiction, an extensive category that continues to thrive in the Philippines. This is why you'll find various imaginative themes and elements that usually do not exist in reality.

And it is Eliza Victoria's Let Me Hold Your Hand that pulls us back into the real world. However, Victoria's story, unlike New's works, delves into what comes after upon the return to the real world.

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You may even try using the app at home or wherever you may be. As long as you have the app downloaded and WiFi or data, you can enjoy these artworks in full view. However, using the app onsite while surrounded by nature is a whole different experience altogether—one that can only be entirely appreciated at the Art Fair's AR Art Trail.

The Art Fair is still ongoing, and you can follow the AR Art Trail on your own or with friends.

Visit the Ayala Triangle Gardens from March 23 to April 1, 2022. To download the Daata AR app, click here.

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AR Art Trail at Art Fair Philippines 2022: Watch Leeroy New's Creatures Come to Life