Tactical Public AR(t)
What is Tactical Public AR(t)?
Tactical Public AR(t) is a collaboration between an education, technology and social innovation specialist and a public art specialist. It uses Augmented Reality* to educate, empower, and amplify.
* Augmented Reality is a transformative technology that overlays digital information—images (2 or 3D), text, video or audio—onto the physical world, enriching our perception of our surroundings. It's been used for art and education and commerce but has never been used quite the way Magnusson and Breslin are using it now.
Left: "Pandemic Heroes (AR)" 2024, geo-positioned in front of a hospital
Youth Engagement
Youth workshops with local non-profits encourage and facilitate civic participation and community building through public AR(t), helping youth make tactical art installations on issues of importance to them. (for more info, visit the "Youth Engagement" page.)
Historical Markers
Norm Magnusson has been making "art of social conscience" for over 35 years. His "On This Site Stood" series has been exhibited all over the U.S. and is in numerous public and private collections. This is the inspiration for the first set of public art projects to be developed under TPA.
The Team
Jennifer Breslin and Norm Magnusson have a fruitful history of collaboration -- she brings her renowned tech, social innovation and education expertise and he brings 35 years of socially pointed art. They recently created the acclaimed main installations for Sinterklaas, an annual winter festival in Rhinebeck, NY that draws over 10k people each year. 2023’s theme was the ant, and the duo designed and curated two galleries featuring AI ant art in the style of well-known historical and contemporary artists, as well as commissioning custom ant artworks from local artists. Additionally, they created and exhibited 36 hemispherical ant species-specific dioramas. In addition to “Tactical Public Art” they are currently collaborating on the design and construction of a functional kinetic sculpture inspired by Leonardo DaVinci’s Lion Automata. It will have moving legs and a jaw that drops open to spill out flowers and will involve the vision and talents of local high school students. (for more info, visit the "About Us" page.)