IANVS (Janus) is the god of beginnings, transitions, and endings in Roman mythology and he is associated with the idea of transition and change, and the ability to move forward while also looking back at the past.
This idea of duality and the balance between different aspects of life, and the ability to adapt and evolve was what drawn us to use it as a concept, specially since this would be our first time exhibiting in a Portuguese gallery and the first time making the jump from a digital to a physical medium.
We wanted the idea of different mediums to be significant and as such we used different techniques and media to suggest the idea of contrast and the idea that the ability to see the past and the future is a clear and distinct thing.
The inclusion of windows in the artwork symbolizes our idea of perspective and the ability to see different aspects of time and reality.
As digital project we mostly dwell in the animated digital world and we wanted to bring that to the real world and since IANVS is known as the god of transitions, we thought it would be an appropriate symbol to represent the use of Augmented Reality in our art, as it allowed us to bridge the gap and transcend the boundaries of traditional and digital art forms, blending past and future, tradition and innovation.
Peering into an animated world through a motionless window is the perfect metaphor for the experience of viewing an augmented reality (AR) artwork. The window represents the physical artwork that the viewer uses as a trigger to access the AR experience, while the animated world represents the digital content that is overlaid onto the real world.
In this metaphor, the motionless window serves as a gateway to a new and exciting world, allowing the viewer to see and interact with the artwork in a way that is not possible with traditional art forms. The animation creates a sense of movement and dynamism, while the physical artwork provides a sense of stability and grounding, allowing the viewer to experience the artwork in a stable and controlled environment.
We made use of the Artivive App, an augmented reality (AR) app that is widely used in the digital art world. The app allows us to create AR experiences that can be accessed through most smartphones or tablets.
The concept was born in 2016 and it was open until 2020 by the hand of Alexandra Quadros and was based in LX Factory in Lisbon.
It was called Merc’Art and it was a way to make art more accessible, so that everyone could be in contact with the beauty and happiness that comes from art.
It allowed privileged access, not only to pieces by up-and-coming artists, who showed their work for the first time, but also to originals by several renowned artists.
We entered Merc’Art for the first time in 2018 with these 2 artworks and a limited edition of 25 signed prints.
Besides these printed artworks we were also made a new animation to be projected on the walls of LX Factory.
After the quick sale of the first two artworks we were asked to create a third in a similar vein for a private showing with a meet and greet. We continued with the IANVS motif and the related transition concept.
In Roman mythology, IANVS the god of beginnings and transitions, is often depicted as having two faces. As a metaphor for the use of augmented reality (AR) in art, IANVS represents the idea of blending the past and the future, and how AR can be used to bridge the gap between traditional and digital art forms.
Another duality we wanted to tackle with this artwork was the stigma of digital art not having true value (something we heard many times in the past). We decided to “add” more value to this work by applying 22K gold leaf in the wooden panel and cutting parts of the faces of the god as if peeling it would show a golden layer beneath giving more depth to the concept.
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