The Variable Museum: Off-Topic Art + Interview, Statement, Artwork

Abstract

Augmented reality provides the opportunity to find a balance point between personalized digital content and the shared context of a group of people in a physical room. Taking advantage of the opportunity requires navigating some significant obstacles though, including the aura associated with traditional art spaces and objects. The Variable Museum provides individuals, in a group, with varying limited experiences of an artwork and asks them to discover what the complete work is by comparing their perspective with the others. The resulting discussion creates a new work specific to the group that participates in it and replaces the illusion of personalization with discourse and social construction.