Augmented Chicago: Inaugural Realities
Augmented Chicago: Inaugural Realities showcases the innovative works of four internationally celebrated Chicago-based artists, Claire Ashley, Faheem Majeed, Yvette Mayorga and Carlos Rolón, pioneering the use of Augmented Reality (AR) for the first time in the vibrant setting of Millennium Park. This exhibition invites visitors to experience a groundbreaking fusion of technology and artistry, transforming the park's landscape into a dynamic canvas of digital creativity. By highlighting AR as a new tool and medium in the world of public art, these artists explore new dimensions of interaction, engagement, and expression, offering a fresh perspective on the urban environment. Join us in this immersive journey at Millennium Park and witness the future of art in a truly democratic and accessible public space.
Special thanks to Hoverlay and their turn-key platform that revolutionizes how immersive experiences are published in physical locations.
Ni Aquí, Ni Allá (Neither Here, Nor There), 2024 - Courtesy of the Artist
Carlos Rolón
Ni Aquí, Ni Allá (Neither Here, Nor There), 2024
Through Ni Aquí, Ni Allá (Neither Here, Nor There), I invite viewers to experience a transformative oasis inspired by the vibrant spirit of Puerto Rico. By blending both the digital art and physical elements within the park, I aim to create a sanctuary amidst the urban landscape—a space where people can pause, rejuvenate, and connect with nature.
Inspired by the vibrant landscape, atmosphere, and sounds of Puerto Rico, this installation features tiled benches, the gentle melodies of the coqui (small frog), a cascading waterfall, and botanical elements that collectively capture the essence of the island. Through the harmonious interplay of virtual and tangible elements, visitors are transported into a dynamic environment, inviting them to embark on a sensory journey of immersion and exploration. By infusing the park with echoes of Borinquen culture, I aspire to celebrate diversity and foster a sense of belonging within the community. This project is not just about providing a physical respite; it's about creating a space that resonates with the soul, where people can find solace, refuge, joy, and inspiration in the heart of the city.
N O M A D I C F L U O R A T I C P H Y L O S I A N S P A W N, 2024
Claire Ashley with audioscape by Joshua Patterson
N O M A D I C F L U O R A T I C P H Y L O S I A N S P A W N, 2024
The four apparitions, experienced here over one calendar year, respond to the shifting seasonal color palette of Millennium Park’s Lurie Gardens and speculate on the possibilities of hybridized lifeforms, terrestrial and otherwise, as our world transforms.
The apparitions will evolve over the year:
Spring: A single apparition grows. The mother form stretches and elongates, birthing its spawn, grumbling as it spits them out.
Summer: Multiple apparitions vibrate. The mother and spawn sway, float, shudder, vibrate, spin, roll, and feast, bubbling and boiling in a whirling dervish-like motion.
Fall: The apparitions slow down. The mother and spawn merge, clicking back together into a new lumpier formation.
Winter: A single apparition hibernates. It snores, snuggles, stretches, and yawns. Crystalline growths appear, beginning the regeneration process for spring.
My inspirations encompass earthly plant forms—their color, sentience, and growth cycle—and Star Trek fictions, particularly the Phylosians, an advanced plant civilization that promotes peace throughout the universe. I also draw from cellular growth processes such as pregnancy, human evolution, and crystalline growth, as well as chemical reactions like fusion, cooking, magic, artistic potions, and bioluminescence. Natural phenomena, including whirlpools, tornadoes, the aurora borealis, and solar eclipses, along with otherworldly sounds, further inspire my work. Through these influences, I explore the dynamic interplay between the natural and the fantastical, inviting viewers to imagine new possibilities for hybrid lifeforms.
The Lovers Dance, 2024
Yvette Mayorga
The Lovers Dance, 2024
The Lovers Dance is Yvette Mayorga’s first augmented reality public work. Drawing from the stories and shapes of her intricately piped paintings and public installations, Mayorga creates an immersive, interactive experience that reflects her signature feminine world-building. In The Lovers Dance, she explores themes of belonging and love by depicting two dancers emerging from the sky, set against a backdrop of piped frosted clouds reminiscent of a theatrical play.
The dancers engage in a delicate performance, attempting to meet but quickly pull back, symbolizing the tension of almost touching yet remaining separated—a metaphor for physical and metaphorical borders, a recurring theme in Mayorga's work. The Lovers Dance is inspired by 18th-century mythological paintings depicting love and leisure, such as the story of Apollo and Daphne. Mayorga’s reimagined dancers are dressed in a hybrid of Rococo and contemporary attire, featuring pointed boots, gilded dresses, and cartoon character balloons, as they ascend into the sky.
Freedom’s Stand: Sentries Beacon, 2024
Faheem Majeed
Freedom’s Stand: Sentries Beacon, 2024
“We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. Too long has the public been deceived by misrepresentations, in things which concern us dearly.” - John Brown Russwurm, Founder of Freedom’s Journal
Freedom’s Stand: Sentries Beacon is an homage to the pioneering spirit of Black newspapers in the United States, drawing on the legacy of community-generated news and self-representation. Inspired by the historical impact of Freedom’s Journal, the first Black-owned newspaper founded in 1827, this augmented reality sculpture highlights the importance of Black voices in media. Combining elements from Chicago’s Wall of Respect, the Community Mural Movement, and traditional West African Dogon architecture, "Freedom’s Stand" creates a rich cultural tapestry.
This work commemorates historical Black newspapers and emphasizes the vitality of contemporary Black community-based media. Self-representation is crucial for minority communities, ensuring their stories and perspectives are accurately conveyed. Contemporary examples include the South Shore Current, which provides nuanced narratives about Chicago’s South Side, countering mainstream media's often monolithic portrayal.
Freedom’s Stand: Sentries Beacon features three dynamic augmented reality newspaper stand sculptures that grow into towering structures and shrink back into smaller stands, symbolizing the evolving nature of Black media. The design, reminiscent of traditional newsstands integrated with Dogon granary aesthetics, creates a living archive. These sculptures showcase a curated collection of headlines, articles, and advertisements from 209 Black newspapers, ensuring the work remains dynamic and ever-changing. This project underscores the importance of celebrating diverse voices in media, ensuring they inform and inspire future generations.
Artist Bios
Carlos Rolón (b. 1970) is a Chicago born/based artist, celebrated for his multi-disciplinary artistic approach, exploring themes such as craft, ritual, beauty, identity, and their intersections with art history. With roots in Puerto Rican heritage, Rolón's background fuels his exploration of personal concepts, blending self-examination with rich cultural symbolism. This synthesis fosters community engagement and blurs the boundaries between public and private spheres, providing viewers a bridge to connect with the broader cultural narrative.
Claire Ashley (b. 1971) is a Scottish born, Chicago-based artist who mines the language of painterly abstraction, monumental sculpture, and slapstick humor to investigate inflatables as painting, sculpture, installation and performance costume. These works have been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries, museums, site-specific installations, and performances events. Ashley teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She lives in the cornfields of Illinois with her old husband, and a menagerie of pets. Her three offspring have flown the coop.
Yvette Mayorga (b. 1991) is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist known for her Rococo-inspired reliefs that merge confectionary labor with found images to explore themes of belonging. Dominated by the color pink, Mayorga celebrates femme power while questioning the allure of consumer culture and the American Dream as a first-generation Latinx.
Faheem Majeed (b.1976) is an artist, educator, curator, and community facilitator. He blends his unique experience as a non-profit administrator, curator, and artist to create works that focus on
institutional critique and exhibitions that leverage collaboration to engage his immediate, and the
broader community, in meaningful dialogue. He is the co-founder/co-director of the arts
collective Floating Museum and professor of art at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
