Artists Transform Brooklyn Light Installation into Instagram AR Filter That Doubles as Dimensional Portal

What if you went to an art installation at one of the coolest venues in New York that you could then take with you anywhere in the world?

That's exactly what's in play with a new Instagram filter that creates a kind of portal into an '80s-style light show anywhere you travel.

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The Instagram filter is called Arrival and it's an outgrowth of the recent light show installation of the same name that debuted just a couple of weeks ago at the Avant Gardner space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The physical art installation in Brooklyn

Both the live installation and the augmented reality filter were created by Kristina Karpysheva and Sasha Letcius, two Russian artists who operate collectively under the name 404.zero.

In addition to audio-visual installations, the 80,000 square foot venue also plays host to some of the most influential music acts of the moment, including Steve Aoki, Aphex Twin, Carl Cox, Deadmau5, and Pussy Riot.

For the AR version of the 404.zero installation, the artists used Facebook's Spark AR tool to allows users to position and walk through the virtual portal.

To access the filter, go to the @404.zero Instagram account, tap the filters button next to the account's grid icon. If you don't see the smiley face icon, that means you probably need to update your Instagram app. Once updated, tapping on the smiley face icon will show two filters, the Arrival 2.0 filter (red-colored portal) and the Arrival filter (white-colored portal).

Each portal can be placed literally anywhere you position it (over water, in the sky, etc.), allowing you to walk through Arrival portals in any city or venue, as many users have begun to demonstrate.

Although this seems innovative to the uninitiated, in 2020, if you're launching nearly any kind of interactive art installation, this kind of mobile AR component that allows the audience to carry the experience with them is now almost essential.

And, as tools like Spark AR and Snap Studio become even easier to use, it's likely this may indeed become the mainstream reality for most artists living on the cutting edge.

Cover image via 404.zero/Instagram