Meta x Takashi Murakami | Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow AR
Why not recreate the most detailed sculptures in contemporary art as 4MB files?
For his first solo exhibition at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles, Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, BUCK was invited to collaborate with Meta on six site-specific AR experiences. The goal wasn’t to add virtual sculptures as decorative elements: The AR activations also served as guides for the journey visitors took through the museum — starting at the East-West Bank Plaza and flowing all the way through to the exhibition gallery space.
The effects were discoverable through custom activation vinyls onsite (one of which was stolen by someone who then attempted to sell it for $400 on eBay) and used Meta Spark’s Multiplane Tracking capabilities for AR effects.
Credits (BUCK):
Group Creative Director: Michelle Higa Fox
Executive Producer: Daniell Phillips
Creative Director: Jeni Wamberg, Eric Chang
Sr. Producer: Rebecca Park, Marla Anyomi
Production Coordinator: Christine Choi
Art Director: Jordan Bruner, Helena Dong
CG Supervisor: Justin Wilcott
Lead Creative Technologist: Kirin Robinson, Daniel Vettorazi
Storyboard: Tucker Klein
Modeling: Tina Chao, Arnald Andujar, Ruxin Liang
Rigging: Juan Carlos Barraza Mendoza
3D Animation: Ida Zhu
2D Animation: Thea Glad
Creative Technologist: Jules Kris, Clara Bacou, Richard Lapham, Luka Lan Gabriel
I led conceptual development alongside BUCK CD Jeni Wamberg. The team and I devised bespoke solutions for each site, taking care not to imbue unintended or new meanings to Murakami’s work, in close collaboration with curators at The Broad.
AR allows museums to expand their scope beyond budgetary and physical limits. When Murakami’s 14-foot-tall Demon sculptures were unavailable to ship to The Broad, AR preserved the exhibition's vision. To avoid lobby crowd bottlenecks and technical device limitations, the team created virtual wall alcoves to house the digital sculptures. This workaround saved floor space and optimized rendering performance, as significant portions of the sculptures were obscured from view.
Looking back at this job, it feels like a fever dream! The pace and ambition of the exhibition and what we were trying to achieve with the AR effects was dizzying. It was an incredible experience and an honor to be working with Mr. Murakami, the wonderful folks at Kaikai Kiki, and the amazing people at The Broad.