Bringing the Frost to Frost Fair

Graffio Arts provided the app and augmented reality experiences for Bankside’s Frostfair. Working with Phil Dawson (This Must Be The Place) and working in Loughborough and London, we had to design new ways to make the Fairs art trail come to life.

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A MULTI-MEDIA TRAIL OF STREET ART MURALS, DIGITAL ART INSTALLATIONS AND EVENTS

This winter, Bankside celebrated one of the most extraordinary events in London’s history – the Frost Fair. From circa 1605 to 1814, the surface of the River Thames froze over 24 times, bringing all trade on the water to a standstill. So the people of Bankside took to the ice, creating ‘Frost Fairs’, with a sensational cornucopia of markets, amusement, food, drink, games, pubs, shops, entertainment and general revelry!

Inspired by the area’s rich heritage and lively characters, Bankside has reinvented the Frost Fair for the 21st century. You could immerse yourself in innovative augmented reality installations, follow street art trails, feast on special Frost Fair themed food and drink and enjoy inspired workshops.

NAVIGATING THE ART TRAIL

Visitors to the Frost Fair could pick up printed maps with the locations of all the AR work on display. A download version was also available on the website with simple instructions to find and download the AR app. At each location the public had to understand what they could do and short explainers were provided on posters and floor stickers.

AUGMENTED REALITY

Our goal was to increase the interaction available to the public at each point along the trail. This was accomplished in a variety of ways. The augmented reality aspects of the project could be broadly broken down into video and 3D. Looking through the AR app and while the viewer pointed at the right spot would reveal video playing within the space or pop up a 3D model that could be placed wherever the viewer decided. There was a film screening on one wall, graffiti work emerging from other wall sand people placing a 10ft high elephant outside of Tate Modern!

ART, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

We designed the AR experiences but also supplied the technology for the project. The Graffio Arts AR app is available in iOS and Android versions and can be used as the basis for a brand’s own app. In this case, Bankside were happy to have Frost Fair as one of a variety of projects available on the app.

GATHERING THE ARTISTS

Lawless Studio brought a host of creatives to the project including film makers, graffiti artists and creative kids. You can find out about all of them here: Graffio Arts, Jason Slabber, Timba Smits, 3D Joe & Max & Frost Fair, Dreph, Everfresh, Peachzz, Mr Cenz, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Richard Kindersley, Nomad Clan, Alice Clarke and Charles Dickens Primary School

AR EXPERIENCES: JASON SLABER

Jason created an incredible video that pieced together frames of animation generated by ai. This piece played as augmented reality from a poster and was also used as a projection at the end of a shopping arcade.

AR EXPERIENCES: NOMAD CLAN

Nomad Clan’s paintings were carefully animated in a quirky style that enhanced their incredible work. The AR elements could be experienced by the viewer in front of each of their pieces.

AR EXPERIENCES: JULIA FULLERTON-BATTEN

Julia’s incredible film depicting an historic Frost Faire was projected at large scale onto a wall with AR.

AR EXPERIENCES: MR CENZ

Mr Cenz’s mural was above street level and animated in AR. The iOS version featured elements of the work emerging out of the mural onto the surrounding roof.

AR EXPERIENCES: PEACHZZ

Each piece of Peachzz’s work featured animated elements that brought each scene to life.

AR EXPERIENCES: GRAFFIO ARTS

We were invited to produce our own piece of work that was viewable beside the river Thames. You can out more here.

THE LAUNCH

The project had many components and really was a race against time. We like to extend a big thank-you to all those involved for working long hours, travelling to meet up to discuss the project and pulling results out of the bag. This project highlights the benefits of different agencies and creatives working together and shows what you can accomplish when you mix for the use of art, design and technology.

AR AND YOU

Are you interested in the ways that augmented reality could bring your event to life? Tell us about your ideas!

ART EVENT, CULTURE, EVENTS, LOUGHBOROUGH, THE LAB, VIDEO, SOLUTIONS, ARTS & CULTURE, TECHNOLOGY, ARTGraffio ArtsJanuary 31, 2023solutions, experiences, technology, design, augmented reality, AR, events, art trails, culture, Graffio AR App, collaboration