Leah Smithson - Murals + XR + Public ARt

EXHIBIT AT THE NEW MUSEUM'S INCUBATOR NEW INC

THE UNSPOKEN

The Unspoken Installation (Photo by Darius Lasagni)

The Unspoken Installation (Photo by Isaiah Winters)

I worked with the New Museum and their incubator, NEW INC, on a multimedia installation called The Unspoken. The Unspoken is a multi-channel video with sculpted seating that contains housing for a subwoofer. The Unspoken explores resilience through movement and sound. In the video, humanoid figures writhe and transform their bodies against a changing backdrop. As the audience sits on the central sculptural seating, whispers in the sound design are turned into vibrations that move through the visitors bodies. The images in the video also draws from similar influence as Louise Bourgeois' Spiders, particularly the way those monumental sculptures, as a reflection of Bourgeois' mother, simultaneously evoke vulnerability and a sense of security. Inspired by my family's experience caring for my father after a massive stroke left him with severe aphasia, this installation animates his lost voice. While aiming to evoke unease the animated figures use movements often found in visual ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) to illicit comfort, prompting reflection on existence and human potential. This installation was part of a group exhibition with NEW INC and the New Museum, featured in The New York Times.

CURATED BY NOWART LA

LUMINEX 2.O

ABOUT LUMINEX 2.O

LUMINEX, the award-winning outdoor digital art exhibition, returned to the South Park District  of DTLA on the evening of Saturday, September 17, 2022. Over 20,000 visitors joined us as we lit up the streets with incredible works by 12 internationally acclaimed and emerging artists. The FREE outdoor digital art exhibition set to transform DTLA through augmented reality installations and immersive artworks. For more details visit luminexla.com.

Check out www.luminexla.com to see line-up of artists who are leading the digital art scene here in LA.

WAGMI (We’re All Gonna Make It)

An acronym used in the Web3 community as a sentiment of hope that blockchain technology along with certain tech, such as the 3-dimensional Internet, called the Metaverse, will make the world a better place and the title of my site-specific installation for LUMINEX 2.0.

Avatar-like creatures try to push their way into our physical dimension showing how our physical world is more and more being affected by our digital dimensions. Many of us make important decisions daily based on what we see online in our digital world. In one reality we may even hide parts of ourselves which we may freely lay bare in another reality. This truth is becoming even more apparent with the rise of web 3, metaverses, and nfts. This installation uses the architecture of South Park as a portal to explore the push and pull of these two worlds that are ever more converging.

A couple of Instagram stories of visitors of WAGMI (We Are Gonna Make It) Installation in South Park of Downtown Los Angeles. The installation uses projection mapping on the architecture of this building using its walls, windows ,and doors. The videos in the windows animate in color, while the wall acts as a veil only showing the shadows of the avatar like creatures trying to access our physical world.

Augmented Reality (AR) installation of WAGMI that will be up all year so that visitors can still enjoy Luminex 2.0 after the one night event using the Hoverlay App. In this AR version of WAGMI, we can see the avatar-like creatures pushing thru their digital dimension moving into our physical world.

COMMISSION BY APPLE

A PORTRAIT OF ISABEL ROJAS-WILLAMS

This is a piece commissioned by Apple, in a mural, on the outside of the new gorgeous Apple Tower Theatre showcasing 15 heroes of the local creative community in Los Angeles including this one I did of Isabel Rojas-Williams. Isabel was instrumental to the adjusting of ordinances governing murals on private property in Los Angeles.

ISABEL ROJAS-WILLIAMS / 96" X 117" / APPLE TOWER THEATER, LOS ANGELES, CA

Opening week of the Apple Tower Theater, I was also invited to do a Live Art Session using iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and Procreate in connection with Today at Apple.

COMMISSION BY DCBID

'FEELS LIKE WATER'

(Animated Augmented Reality (AR) Sculpture)

Part of Grand Avenue Augmented, a guided augmented reality (AR) experience in DTLA. This piece ’Feels like Water’ is at the Disney Concert Hall, home of the LA Philharmonic in downtown Los Angeles & open 24/7. It’s number 29 on the Grand Avenue Augmented map in the Hoverlay App on your phone or tablet.

COMMISSION BY DCBID

'ALGORITHMIC DELERUIM'

(Animated Augmented Reality (AR) Sculpture)

Also part of Grand Avenue Augmented, a guided augmented reality (AR) experience in DTLA. This piece ’Algorithmic Delirium’ is located at the One Cal Plaza in downtown Los Angeles & open 24/7. It’s number 15 on the Grand Avenue Augmented map in the Hoverlay App on your phone or tablet.

Here's a snippet of the Executive Director of the DCBID talking about how we collaborated during this project.

FINALIST FOR THE 4TH STREET BRIDGE MURAL FOR LA ARTS DISTRICT BID (BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT)

'REVERB' (SKETCH)

REVERB (FINALIST SUBMSSION SKETCH) /10' X 80' / LOS ANGELES, CA

The Arts District is embodied as an individual; a figurative instrument of recreation honoring the artists & creatives that had the forethought & the vision to take an area that had been tossed aside & turn it into a space that nurtures innovation. A place for creative expression to thrive. As for the ‘fembots’ emanating from the woman, they represent something that has always impressed me about the Arts District: Not only have the artist & creatives that have cultivated the culture made an impact on LA, but their influence has had a domino affect on many parts of the world. We even see this through so many incredible artists, galleries, & museums that have been drawn from all over and decided to make a home here in the LA Arts District. Upon commission of this piece, I would have added an augmented reality aspect to it where a viewer could use a QR code with their device to create an immersive experience.

LIVE MURAL PAINTING + ART ACTIVATION FOR ANGEL CITY BREWERY

'BRIDGE'

BRIDGE (Interactive Live Mural) /10' X 12' / LOS ANGELES, CA

Many of us who have experienced a loss, failure, or disappointment sometimes need a reminder that just because we’ve had that experience doesn’t mean that our life will always be that way. To help with this, I added an interactive component to one of my last murals.The first 150 people that came to the event took an egg filled with safe powdered pigment and wrote their latest concern, failure, or worry on the egg. Then they threw their eggs against the wall of the mural. So together we put away all of those frustrations and made something new out of it as I incorporated the colored pigment thrown at the wall into the design of the mural. Hearing many of the conversations spoken after everyone threw their worries away helped create the title of this piece. (Final Photo of the finished mural below)

BRIDGE / 12' X 10' / ANGEL CITY BREWERY, LOS ANGELES, CA

MURAL PAINTING FOR URBAN RADISH

'SYMPATHETIC STRINGS'

SYMPATHETIC STRINGS /16' X 14' / URBAN RADISH, LOS ANGELES, CA