Acclaimed artist Kaws (Brian Donnelly), in collaboration with Acute Art and Epic Games’ Fortnite, has created the online game’s first real-world art show, which is taking place both online and at the Serpentine. The show, entitled New Fiction, is Kaws first major solo show in London and has been curated by Acute Art’s artistic director, Daniel Birnbaum.
The Serpentine will also be using an app, developed by Acute Arts, which brings the exhibition to life through AR technology. All of the show’s artwork, plus a mini version of the entire exhibition, exists as AR works on the app, meaning they can also be placed and viewed at home.
Fortnite show brings art to new audience
Those who are not able to visit the Serpentine Gallery in person can view a virtual recreation of the show in Fortnite. This will run simultaneously, allowing the game’s global players to experience the show wherever they are.
Fortnite has over 400m player accounts around the world. In an interview with The Guardian, Kaws talks about how he’d “love to throw bridges to a new generation,” saying that for many players on Fortnite who visit the virtual exhibition, it will be “the first time they walk around a space like that, experiencing painting and sculpture in the video game that they’re completely comfortable in and used to.”
The Fornite version of New Fiction has been built by the Fortnight Creative community. Visitors can look around the Serpentine gardens and interact with the artist’s work in a new way.
New Fiction will run at Serpentine North from 18 January to 27 February. Players can access the Kaws: New Fiction hub indefinitely with island code 9562-7830-4159.
The trend for esports and gaming continues to grow, with theme parks introducing new attractions based on popular video game IPs, museums creating worlds in Minecraft and musicians hosting huge concerts on Fortnite.
Top image: Screenshot from the Fortnite experience. Courtesy of Epic Games
