Digital Occupation of the US Pavilion
In response to the 2016 US Pavilion’s call for large-scale redevelopment strategies in Detroit, Michigan, I worked with Detroit Resists to develop an augmented reality ‘Digital Occupation’ of the Pavilion, as a way for the local activist and architectural communities to be ‘present’ in Venice and included in conversation about the future of the city.
The installation consists of 3D representations of a activist installations and phrases from Detroit, situated in relationship to the US Pavilion on Google Earth through AR. While at the US Pavilion, visitors could see the installation simultaneous with the commissioned exhibit, as well as receive more information about the work happening in Detroit to combat evictions. The project received international media attention.
Team
Sara Dean, AR exhibit designer
Detroit Resists, client and collaborator
Emily Kulil, 3D designer
Andrew Herscher, advisor
Role
Detroit Resists engaged me to propose a way for them to protest the US Pavilion 2016 exhibit. I proposed AR as the format of the protest, geolocated on the US Pavilion. I coded the augmented reality platform, and wrote the instruction for viewing, working with Emily Kulil for 3D modeling of the pieces.
