Virtually Upfest and beyond
Street art in VR
In June 2020 Europe’s biggest street art festival – Upfest – was sadly forced to cancel it’s yearly celebration due to pandemic restrictions. However, in September 2020 we launched Virtually Upfest, an Upfest virtual reality experience showcasing 30 new artworks, thanks to funding from Arts Council England.
Next we created 3 vibrant AR filters to accompany selected artworks from the platform. Each filter was designed to make the graffiti prints pop in 3D, adding a further dimension to the artwork.
In 2022, we also helped Bedminster’s local Business Improvement District encourage people back to Bristol’s streets post-pandemic by animating the artwork on Bedminster’s Six Sisters using 6 new AR filters. Read on to find out how we created the original virtual street art festival experience that can still be viewed online. Discover Virtually Upfest yourself!
Responding to the pandemic with a VR festival
Zubr teamed up with arts organisation Upfest to overcome COVID-19 by unveiling incredible new street art in a VR festival: Virtually Upfest. Upfest founder Stephen Hayles was keen to experiment in the world of virtual reality and create a new platform for the festival and its artists.
Usually over 50,000 people gather in Southville each year, to witness the live work of 400 artists and wonder at new murals. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Upfest, like most other festivals, had to be cancelled. Determined to showcase their talented artists, Upfest challenged Zubr to find an alternate way of sharing the festival with audiences, without violating pandemic restrictions.
This inspired us to create the virtual festival, accessible on any device; from smartphones and tablets to desktop computers and virtual reality headsets, users were able to navigate our 3D model of North Street and take a closer look at the artists behind the striking digital artworks.
I’m a paint-on-canvas artist and I don’t even delve into the digital world so for me it’s really interesting. It’s a great thing to be part of.”
Sophie Long – Artist
I’m a paint-on-canvas artist and I don’t even delve into the digital world so for me it’s really interesting. It’s a great thing to be part of.”
Sophie Long – Artist
Creating a new world to showcase digital art
During Upfest, Bristol’s streets traditionally become the canvas for hundreds of artists. We knew that in order to give Upfest fans a familiar experience, a sense of place within the city was crucial. We decided to build a 3D model of North Street, the usual site of Upfest festival – but with a twist!
Instead of simply recreating the street in a photorealistic style, reminding people of the real life experience they were missing out on, we wanted to give Virtually Upfest users a heightened version of the festival experience. We created a retro reconstruction of North Street, to transport users somewhere new and send their imaginations into overdrive – the perfect backdrop for an arts festival!
This reconstruction was influenced by the 1982 legendary American sci-fi film TRON, which saw arcade owner Kevin Flynn transported into the internal 3D-graphical world of computers, giving Virtually Upfest a futuristic look that nicely offset the artworks.
Just like Kevin, Virtually Upfest audiences enter the digital world, only without the deadly games.
It’s in this virtual world that artists from around the world have been able to showcase their latest work. Upfest commissioned new works from a spectrum of 30 UK artists specifically for Virtually Upfest. Though most of the artists usually work with paint, they had to create digital pieces that Zubr could embed into the virtual street.
Each artist was given a specific site in Virtually Upfest where their work would be located, enabling them to work through their familiar process, despite the unfamiliar medium. This new digital approach was an exciting challenge for the artists involved, encouraging them to think about the way they conceptualise space and canvases.
The results of this collaboration are unlike anything Upfest goers will have experienced before.
Instagram Artists Filters
To celebrate the launch of Virtually Upfest 2020, we also teamed up with digital artwork collectors Rendar and Bristol artists, Cheo and Copyright to offer Upfest fans a further opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of street art through 3 augmented reality Instagram filters.
- For the first AR filter, we animated Cheo’s piece, ‘Retro Flow’, creating an AR filter that brings the exclusive print to life. Cheo began drawing and painting graffiti characters in the mid 1980s and has a very recognisable cartoon-style, inspired by the comic book characters of Vaughn Bode.
- We went for a similar approach for the second AR filter, creating an additional layer of free flowing psychedelia for Copyright’s piece, ‘Heal’. One again, by combining the print with its Instagram filter, users could see the artwork leap from the screen and dance for their entertainment, adding an enchanting layer to Copyright’s iconic street art.
- We opted for a slightly different approach for the third AR filter, encouraging people to step into the shoes of a graffiti artist using a selfie filter, complete with 3D Upfest hat and chain. As physically attending Upfest 2020 wasn’t a possibility, it was vital that our filters enabled people to fully immerse themselves in the virtual festival – even adding selfies filters wearing their digital Upfest apparel!
These 3 examples show the power of augmented reality to really put people in the picture, and have an unexpected experience with art. Contact us to find out how you can use AR filters to engage visitors.
