For this research blog, I discovered a cool new art installation happening in Chicago. A new digital art installation is happening at Chicago’s 1930 art deco style Merchandise Mart. From architecture to art, the facade of this old limestone building will become a live piece, through the help of projection mapping. Dubbed "art on the mart", this new huge project will incorporate the work of 34 video projectors! The project is led by the San Francisco-based Obscura Digital, who have famously projection mapped other famous facades, such as the Guggenheim Museum, Sydney Opera House, and the Vatican. One of the unique aspects of this project mapping project is that this ‘Art on theMart’ project will be the largest permanent installation of its kind in the world. This facade will be dedicated to public art and will feature zero commercial branding or sponsorship, something that is nice and refreshing to see in the capitalist, advertising washed society we currently live in. What's more crazy than the fact that this will be a permanent installation is the hefty price tag of the piece! According to the source, this installation comes with an $8 million price tag!! It's also estimated to run to about $500,000 in annual operating costs. Personally, while the lavish price tag for this public art piece may seem unnecessary, maybe even excessive, I think that level of dedication to public beautification, and investment in art, is an important and worthwhile cause, and I hope we see more of these digital application art installations in the future!
