DIGITAL MONUMENTS: AR WORKSHOPS

About 30 Grade 9 students huddle around a projected image of Cree artist, Ruth Cuthand’s, digitized beaded art. As the students hold their smartphones up to the art, an animated 3D model appears and spins on their screens. Looking through their phones, it’s as if the 3D model is suddenly in the classroom, prompting the students to excitedly move around and interact with it.

The students were taking part in one of four augmented reality (AR) workshops offered by Common Weal Community Arts between October 2022 and January 2023. The workshops were held at Nakoda Oyade Education Centre in Cega’Kin Nakoda Nation, Peepeekisis Pesakastew School in Peepeekisis Cree Nation, Indian Head High School in Indian Head, and Scott Collegiate in Regina. In total, 53 students participated in the workshops, which were facilitated by Indigenous digital media artists Rene Dufour-Contreras and Taylor McArthur.

Rene is a mestizo programmer whose art blends traditional methods with digital technology “to explore how people and society change due to changes in technology and what that means to our essence as human beings.” Taylor is a Nakota artist originally from Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation, now living in Treaty 1 territory. She creates 3D art “informed by Indigenous Futurisms and seeks to situate her Indigenous culture within both the modern and a potential future vision.”

Rene and Taylor led the students through storyboarding their ideas for their individual and group AR projects. They taught the students how to create and animate 3D art using the free open-source software Blender and Tinkercad. Students also learned how to make their digital art interactive with the AR publishing platforms Adobe Aero, Artivive, and CoSpaces. Their projects ranged from animated 3D teepees to winter-themed 3D animations.

Many of the students were deeply engaged in the workshops and participated enthusiastically. With their new digital media skills, the students can now go on to use free open-source software to create 3D art, place their digital creations in physical environments using free AR publishing platforms, and invite their friends to interact with their art using free AR apps.

Artwork available on Adobe Aero

To access these artworks in augmented reality so that you can place them in your surroundings, follow these steps:

1. Download the free app Adobe Aero onto your apple device (iPhone or iPad).

2. Open your phone's camera.

3. Hold your phone up to a QR code in this section.

4. Click on the Adobe Aero link that appears on your phone  and follow the prompts to place the artwork in your surroundings.

Artwork available on Co Spaces

To access these artworks in augmented reality so that you can place them in your surroundings, follow these steps:

1. Download the free app Co Spaces onto your device (smartphone, iPad, or tablet).

2. Open your phone's camera.

3. Hold your phone up to a QR code in this section and click on the Co Spaces link that appears on your phone.

4. Click on "play.”

5. Click on the phone and VR headset in the bottom right of the screen.

6. Click view in AR.

7. Follow the prompts to place the artwork in your surroundings.

   
   
   

Artwork available on Artivive

To access this artwork in augmented reality so that you can place it in your surroundings, follow these steps:

1. Download the free app Artivive onto your device (smartphone, iPad, or tablet).

2. Open the app.

3. Hold your phone up to the trigger that reads “Multimedia” below.

4. Wait for the artwork to appear.

Other Artworks on Artivive:

This project is funded through the Department of Canadian Heritage / Government of Canada, Community Support, Multiculturalism, and Anti-Racism Initiatives Program and SaskCulture Miff Annual Grant funded through SaskLotteries Multicultural funds.