Protoworld: Visit our digital sculpturepark in AR

SVENSKA / ENGLISH

Protoworld is an interactive digital sculpture park that is emerging in Södertälje.  Art and cultural events are reflected here in a virtual world via Augmented Reality (AR). In the digital mirror world, artworks emerge across the city. Using a mobile phone or other screen, you will be able to participate in a mixed world of physical and digital objects in the park. This way, you can experience contemporary art that will grow year by year to include more places and events.

Protoworld can be downloaded via App Store or Google Play. 

 The app has been developed by Grafikens Hus in collaboration with:

Jonas Lythell (App developer)

Afaina de Jong, artist and architect, and InnaVisions (design)

Jens Evaldsson, artist and maker

Olivia Berkowicz, curator

Södertälje Science Park

Thanks Kulturrådet

Visit Protoworld and explore three artworks:

Title: Radical Observations Monument

A workshop in collective storytelling was held via an online conference during Södertälje Science Week 2021. The participants met for the first time and shared patterns concerning the construction of identity through colours and shapes relating to their homes. A new digital sculpture was created as a result of the workshop conversations by artist Jens Evaldsson following the participants’ instructions. The sculpture is accessible in Astraparken, Södertälje as part of Protoworld.

The method is based on architect and artist Afaina de Jong’s ”radical observations” in which she draws on the experiences of people and places. Based on all the information gathered, de Jong transforms the sum of the experiences into new architecture and new designs.

The AR sculpture has been produced by Grafikens Hus in collaboration with:

Jens Evaldsson, artist and maker (artistic management and completion)

Participating workshop participants: Alexander Wahlberg, Sofi Cyréus, Åsa Ringström, Annika Lilliu, Elizabeth García, Heléne Arrland Schönfeldt, Lena Hultin, Tiffany Alnefelt, Sara Palmgren, Marit Johansson, Joy Mallari, Sebastian Pihlainen, Nichlas Larsson, Simon Deurell, Artemida Taljic, Tina Langevik, Alex Saavedra

Jonas Lythell (app developer)

In collaboration with Södertälje Science Park

Biography
Jens Evaldsson (b. 1975) is an artist with extensive experience of collaborative projects. He has participated in exhibitions around the world with works that often deal with human behaviour and social interactions. Jens’s approach is varied and broad, often within what is known as DIY (Do It Yourself) and maker culture.

 

Title: (An)other Vernacular

 (An)other Vernacular is an open stage and a new meeting place in Astraparken, Södertälje. Artist and architect Afaina de Jong has developed the architecture and the pavilion through research and dialogue with groups in the local community.

Afaina de Jong has explored who is represented in the city’s environments from a feminist and intersectional perspective. The AR sculpture is a digital reflection of the future meeting place that enables an exploration of belonging and community in public space.

The AR sculpture has been produced by Grafikens Hus in collaboration with:

Afaina de Jong and InnaVision

Jens Evaldsson

Origo Architects

The Art Pavilion (An)other Vernacular is a collaboration with Afaina de Jong, Södertälje Municipality, the Swedish Arts Council and the reference groups: Life Bitch !, Hagaberg Folk High School, Tjejhuset, Vuxenskolan (should double check that everyone is involved and right)

Biography
Afaina has worked for renowned international firms before establishing her own firm in 2005. With her creative studio AFARAI she works on the boundary of architecture and art. Her work is deeply connected to represent people and cultural movements that are not traditionally represented in architectural form. By using form languages, colors, patterns and narratives that are other, she works towards a more inclusive experience of space. Afaina is a contemporary thinker, keeping a pulse on the now while at the same time projecting a unique vision of the future. For Afaina it is important that architecture is not only perceived, but also experienced and interacted with. Her discourse is international and intersectional, connecting counterculture with architecture.

De Jong is the head of the Contextual Design MA department at Design Academy Eindhoven. She has been an active educator for years amongst others at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft and The Sandberg Institute and has been a guest lecturer at Columbia University GSAPP in New York, KTH in Stockholm and the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. Her design research The Multiplicity of Other is commissioned for the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021.  

http://www.afarai.com/

IG: afainadejong

 

Title: TayAR 

In Mohsen Hazrati’s digital sculpture TayAR, a flying creature invites you to share your wishes in the form of a word or sentence. Across different mythologies, birds symbolize cycles of rebirth, inner and outer journeys, healing and prophecy.  In this work, Hazrati explores how digital messaging can take alternative shapes and forms drawing on elements from fantasy and legends.

The interactive sculpture may be placed anywhere in your environment and invites you to leave a message behind. TayAR is a database of information where the wishes of previous visitors are incorporated in its form. As more visitors share their thoughts, the flying creature will morph and grow across time.

Biography
Mohsen Hazrati was born in 1987 in Shiraz, Iran. He graduated with a BA in graphic design from Shiraz Art Institute of Higher Education in 2012, minoring in new media and digital art. His works focus on Literature and digital technologies and have been presented in various conferences and exhibitions such as; IAM weekend, EVA, Elo, UCL mal, TEDx Mollasadra St, PeertoSpadce, RadianceVR, Espronceda, synthesis, Transfer, etc. Since 2013, in collaboration with Milad Forouzande, he has been the co-founder and curator of “Dar-AlHokoomeh Project”; a new media art project and activity, based in Shiraz, Iran.

www.mohsenhazrati.com

IG: mohsenzzzt