On a Sunday summer afternoon, L’OFFICIEL sat with legendary curators Hans Ulrich Obrist and Daniel Birnbaum to discuss the future of art through augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR). Friends since the ‘90s, Obrist and Birnbaum have led critical theory and curation through a myriad of mediums, from apartment galleries to the Venice Biennale. In 2022, as Co-Director of the Serpentine Gallery and Director of AR/VR art production company Acute Art, respectively, Obrist and Birnbaum are at the forefront of technology and the new wave of artistic expression, participation, and criticism. Their excitement is palpable, and with infectious fervor, the conversation is merely the beginning of a fascinating paradigm shift of contemporary art, all thanks to AR/VR.
The dominant tendency in art, theory, and philosophy has been one of critique when it comes to new technologies. Think of The Frankfurt School’s deep skepticism of technological developments or Martin Heidegger’s apocalyptic idea of technology being the end of metaphysics. There are exceptions—problematic ones like techno-optimism in Italian futurism and Russian constructivism. Still, looking at the 20th century, you can find these moments of great techno affirmation. Once or twice every century, something new arrives that disturbs or changes the game. When it comes to AR and VR, we don’t know how they will relate to traditional structures and the art world or market, and for me, that’s an exciting moment. I presume there will be normalization and commercialization of AR/VR, which is less interesting from a point of view of experimentation. But the prophetic nature of art, not in
