The Griffin is pleased to present the second in the series of works from Liz Hickok, bringing photography off the walls and surrounding our view with Augmented Reality visions.
As part of our overarching public art summer exhibitions focused on the waters that surround us as well as our changing climate, Submerged activates the space facing Judkin’s Pond at the museum in Winchester.
About Submerged
This mural is part of my Ground Waters series, in which I construct scale models of urban spaces, flood the tiny ecosystem with a crystal solution, and record the ephemeral deterioration with photography and video. As time passes, the crystals engulf the structures, transforming them into otherworldly scenes. While the colors are inviting, the sharp formations are clearly chemical in nature, referencing the pollutants that seep into, even saturate, our environment.
Through the use of augmented reality technology, the still photograph comes alive as you, the viewer, witness the crystals growing. You can move closer and further away from the mural, while the video and sound continue to play, evoking the invisible forces at work around us.
Augmented reality interface by Phil Spitler
About the Artists –
San Francisco-based artist, Liz Hickok, works in an innovative creative style, mixing low and high tech to create immersive artworks that bring viewers into a whimsical and wondrous space. Using playful materials and intersecting photography, sculpture, video, and installation, Hickok makes art that intermingles science and nature. Her most recent projects use augmented reality and other interactive technologies, inviting her spectators to take a more personal approach to her art, and closing the gap between artist and viewer.
Hickok exhibits nationally and internationally; her work is included in such collections as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Blue Shield of California, and Mills College Art Museum. Hickok’s series, Fugitive Topography: Cityscapes in Jell-O, attracted widespread media attention, receiving coverage in The New York Times, a feature on CBS’s The Early Show, and NPR.
Hickok has developed photomurals for Facebook and Google’s San Francisco offices, as well as for UCSF and Sutter Hospitals. In 2019, she created a site-specific installation for the Surreal Sublime exhibition at the San Jose ICA, and had a large solo exhibition at the Longview Museum of Fine Arts in Longview, TX. In 2020, she was part of the Center of Photographic Art in Carmel’s 8×10 Fundraising Exhibition. She currently has an outdoor photomural on display in Palo Alto, CA which integrates three-dimensional layers of augmented reality video and sound. Liz’s most recent project was an interactive large-scale video projection for Palo Alto’s Code:ART2 festival in October 2021. In 2022, she will have a solo show at Chung Namont Gallery in Noe Valley, San Francisco.
Phil Spitler is a creative technology artist based in San Francisco. He has gained a reputation for his ability to create innovative and unique light-based art, as well as augmented reality and other creative technology installations. Originally from the UK, Phil has always been fascinated by the interplay between art and technology, and has spent much of his career exploring this intersection. He has a keen eye for using light and color to create immersive environments, often incorporating cutting-edge technology to create truly transformative installations.
