Ring Worm by Alan Resnick. Paper-Thin was created by Daniel Smith and Cameron Buckley to display the work of digital artists. (via paper-thin)
When you think of art, you often picture physical museums, off limits paintings, and stuffy art connoisseurs. But with all the technology available in the 21st century, creators are changing the way we think about the art world. Now, there are artists that are strictly digital, but as you would imagine it's hard for these creators to actually display their creations, especially if they're too abstract to put up. Daniel Smith and Cameron Buckley saw this problem and responded with Paper-Thin, an experimental art space and virtual reality art archive.
“Paper-Thin grew out of a frustration with the current format of the gallery in the physical world,” Buckley says. “Restrictions like distance, money, time, and content become minimized in this online format because of the openness and availability of the internet. One of our goals is to offer an alternative to experiencing art in the exclusive way it is exhibited in the physical world, opening it up to more possibilities.”
So, how does it work? The gallery is designed to look like a real building, but operates entirely online. When you visit the virtual space, you navigate through exhibits by using arrow keys towards the rear-left of the gallery to find the specific piece you're looking for. So far there are only four artists who have installed works in the space: Alan Resnick's Ring Worm, Hunter Jonakin's Collector's Digital Art Piece: Platinum Artist's Proof, a collaboration by Daniel Baird and Haseeb Ahmed, and Rachael Archibald's carnate (in-pinking). But other creators are signing up to have their works displayed.
The current iteration of Paper-Thin will be getting two more installations early this year – one by Hugo Arcier in January and the other from Andy Lomas in February. Daniel Smith plans to keep each of the installations up indefinitely meaning there are no expiration dates on these artwork, unlike traditional museums. Once all the rooms are filled in the gallery, Smith and Buckley plan to open a new space for more artwork, which will be designed with the help of an architect.
Not only is this digital gallery innovative and changing the way we think about art, it's also immersive and inviting. Sometimes you don't always have an extra twenty bucks to visit an art museum, but as long as Paper-Thin is around you can dive into the art world whenever you want. Hopefully, it will inspire other digital creators to open up their own virtual spaces.
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