Melbourne

Opening: Saturday, May 14th 2011
Location: Fitzroy, Carlton Gardens, Melbourne Museum, Fitzroy Gardens, Federation Square, Birrarung Marr Park, Alexandra Gardens, National Gallery of Victoria, ACCA, Southbank, Enterprize Park, Batman Park and the Yarra

The Melbourne showing of (Un)seen Sculptures is being presented by the Australian Centre of Virtual Art and is being staged at locations throughout the city; from Fitzroy in the north to the Australian Centre of Contemporary Art in the south; from Alexandra Gardens in the east to Batman Park in the west.

Instructions

1. Download the latest version of the Layar Reality Browser

If you have a iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, you can get it from iTunes; if you have an Android, you can get it from the Android Market; if you have a compatible Nokia (C7, C6-01, E7, N8 or N97), you can get it from the Ovi Store.

If you already have Layar installed on your phone, make sure you upgrade it to the latest version (5.0). If you have a version earlier than 4.0, you won’t be able to view (Un)seen Sculptures. You can still potentially view the works with Layar 4.0, but for the best viewing experience, get 5.0.

2. Print out the map

Most of the artworks will only be visible at specific locations, so you’ll need the map to find them. You’ll find a printable PDF of the map here.

3. Wear some comfortable shoes (or bring your bike) and bring headphones

The works are spread over 16 sites throughout the city, so you’ll have to do a bit of walking if you want to see them all. You might also have to cross some busy streets, so be careful doing that. Alternatively, you might want to consider bringing or hiring a bike, and cycling from location to locaton

And don’t forget your headphones. Four of the works in the show – Virtual Native, Sex and Death Bufo Colony, Portuguese Legendary Cocks and The Information Virus – have audio associated with them, and you’ll obviously need headphones to hear it properly. In some cases, the audio will play automatically when get within a certain distance of the artwork; in other cases, you can touch the work and press a Listen button to hear it.

4. Go to the locations and open up Layar

When you arrive at your first location, open up the Layar app and search for unseen sculptures. A layer (that’s what they call a set of works on this app) called Unseen Sculptures should appear. Tap on the listing, then press the Launch button to begin experiencing the artworks.

5. Touch the art

If you want to learn more about any artwork you are viewing, “touch” the artwork on your phone screen, and the title & artist’s name will appear. There’ll also be a button entitled About that you can press to read the artist’s statement.

One of the works, 3D2D3D, will indeed only become visible if you touch the “placeholder” image at its locations, touch the description, and press the Make Artwork Visible button.

And finally…

The works need to be downloaded from the web before being shown to you, so there may be a short wait for some of them. Please be patient. Also, we recommend that you only open up Layar when you are at a location and viewing a work. When you’re finished at that location, press the Close button on bar at the bottom of the screen, then shut down the app.

If you have any problems seeing the works at any point, try closing the Layar then pressing the Launch button again (or, if you’re on Layar 4.0, press the info button, then press Refresh). If you still have problems, there may be local interference with the compass on your phone – try waving the phone in a figure-eight in front of you to rectify this.