California’s Getty Museum has recreated William Blake’s figures in augmented reality (AR) for a digital art experience called ‘United Visions’ at Apple’s new shop in London.
Originally developed for the Getty Museum, United Visions has launched on the App Store and is being showcased at Apple Brompton Road, the company’s newest shop in London.
The new AR experience honours the works of poet and painter William Blake. It brings to life the creature painted in ‘The Ghost of a Flea’ (around 1819-20), The Art Newspaper reports.
“Blake inspired so many artists around the world,” Nguyen said at the launch.
The figure is joined with other creatures from Blake’s works – including a tiger’s head from his 1794 poem The Tyger and an eagle’s head from ‘Beatrice Addressing Dante from the Car’ (1824-27).
‘United Visions’ created using Apple technology
United Visions was created with Apple technology. Artists and creative technologists Tin Nguyen and Ed Cutting (Tin&Ed) used Apple’s M1 Ultra chip. The experience features a soundtrack by hip-hop producer Just Blaze.
Last year, the Getty Museum launched a YouTube series called ‘Becoming Artsy’, which can be streamed weekly and is hosted by the institution’s senior creative producer Jessie Hendricks.
The Getty’s digital offerings also include online exhibits and museum tours on Google Arts & Culture, which is home to 71,208 items from the museum’s collection.
In 2020, the Getty Museum added its art collection to Nintendo’s Animal Crossing video game while it was closed to the public due to the pandemic.
Images: Getty Museum
