Commentary

Is Snapchat Paving The Way For Art In The Metaverse?


 

On Monday, which happened to be the International Day for Monuments and Sites, Snap unearthed its second annual Monumental Perspectives initiative––a series of augmented reality (AR) monuments in partnership with The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Monumental Perspectives invites LA-based artists and Snap AR creators to collaborate and design Lenses that elevate perspectives and pay tribute to the changing landscapes and histories of Los Angeles, says Snap.

This year’s virtual installation includes three original pieces that Snap users can access through the Snapchat Camera at specific locations around LA, or by scanning the appropriate Snapcode remotely.

“The Great Wall of Los Angeles” is artist Judy Baca’s ongoing mural that transforms the concrete basin of the Los Angeles River into a scene teeming with nature and wildlife -- a nod to its reality decades ago.

The remaining installation experiences include Sandra de la Loza’s recounting of the ecology of Willowbrook and the Tongva tribe who once lived there, as well as Kang Seung Lee’s floating monument exploring the 1991 shooting of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins by a Korean American liquor store owner and the LA Uprising.

It seems that Snap, recognized mainly for its popular social media app (with over 530 million users worldwide), has had another focus bubbling behind the scenes: its Lens Studio, the internal application designed specifically for artists and developers to build AR experiences for the Snapchat user base.

Monumental Perspectives is just one example of the company’s continued goal of combining virtual and augmented experiences with a diverse array of visual art.

Site-specific AR Lenses like these ones began back in 2017 when Snap partnered with art phenom Jeffrey Koonz, allowing users to conjure his inventive sculptures within 1,000 feet of international landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower.

“The fact we can bring these ginormous sculptures anywhere in the world is just the beginning of inspiring young people all over the world to create with our cameras,” said Evan Spiegel, founder and CEO of Snapchat, at a Vanity Fair conference in 2017.

Snap has since partnered with a variety of visual artists while expanding the reach of its Lenses as portals for all types of branding and causes. For example, this past March the company launched Custom Landmarkers with its Local Lens technology, which Wired called“one of the first persistent, large-scale, collaborative uses of augmented reality.”

Custom Landmarkers (which attracted major players like Meghan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa)  allows marketers and creators to develop custom location-based AR experiences anywhere they want, like a favorite restaurant or city block, ultimately utilizing the landscape to tell a personal, historical or brand-centric story.

Lens Creators, according to Snap, spans over 200 countries and has made over 2.5 million Lenses that have been viewed over 3.5 trillion times.

It’s becoming clear that Snap’s use of AR Lenses––the feature’s inclusion of users, creators, artists, and mega-stars––is a forward-thinking way to engage with art while inviting users, creators, artists, and mega-stars to collaborate via Snap’s cutting-edge tools.

The possibilities will be endless once any Snapchatter is given the reins to utilize geo-located lenses like the Custom Landmarkers tool.

The metaverse is calling, and Snap seems to be sitting pretty, ready to engage its large user base in a plethora of engaging virtual worlds.

 

 

 

 

 

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