WEST HOLLYWOOD—West Hollywood is presenting an augmented reality (AR) installation by Eyejack on the painted mural You’re All Welcome Here by artist Mike Stilkey at West Hollywood City Hall, located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard, through April 2022.
According to a press release from the city of West Hollywood, Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image over a real-world view using a camera on a smartphone. Three distinct AR animations designed by Eyejack in consultation with the muralist will come to life through smartphone camera view varying on which group of animals within the painted mural the lens is pointed toward by the viewer.
To experience the AR installation, the viewer may scan a QR code using a smartphone at the mural location or go to the website at www.weho.org/community/arts-and-culture/visual-arts/art-on-the-outside/you-re-all-welcome-here-mike-stilkey to download the free Eyejack app. Once the app is open, viewers can hold their smartphone camera aimed at the artwork (for on-site in-person viewing) or an image of the artwork posted on the city’s website to watch the artwork come to life.
The Eyejack augmented reality application brings art to life with animation and sound; Eyejack specializes in the curation and distribution of augmented art such as books, posters, event-based AR, street art, murals, and installations.
The mural ‘You’re All Welcome Here by Mike Stilkey’ (2019) displays West Hollywood’s all-inclusive joie de vivre with unique animal characters that dance together exuberantly atop a rainbow crosswalk. Stilkey lives and works in Los Angeles. Anthropomorphism is a big theme in his work, which has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally.
The augmented reality installation by Eyejack and the You’re All Welcome Here mural are Art on the Outside projects organized by West Hollywood’s Arts Division, part of the City’s Economic Development Department. The Art on the Outside program installs rotating temporary artworks on the city’s medians and in parks. The AR installation is anticipated to be on display through April 2022.
West Hollywood’s Arts Division delivers a broad array of arts programs including Art on the Outside (temporary public art), City Poet Laureate, Drag Queen Story Hour, Free Theatre in the Parks, Grants, Holiday Programming, Human Rights Speaker Series, Library Exhibits, National Poetry Month, One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival, Summer Sounds + Winter Sounds, Urban Art (permanent public art), and WeHo Reads. For details about arts programming visit: www.weho.org/arts.
For information about the augmented reality installation by Eyejack on the You’re All Welcome Here mural by artist Mike Stilkey contact Rebecca Ehemann, West Hollywood Arts Manager, at rehemann@weho.org or at (323) 848-6846. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, call TTY (323) 848-6496.
