The opportunity to see Marc-O-Matic’s (Marco Ryan) work in an exhibition came up at the ArtBoy Gallery in Prahran. I didn’t really understand how it all worked but from what I had seen in videos on his website and facebook page I was curious and wanted to experience this unique “Immersive Augmented Reality Art”.
The framed illustrated drawings on the walls of the gallery looked like any other exhibition. The hidden movement within the illustrations come alive with an a iPad provided by the gallery. Holding the iPad in front of the illustration triggers movement and sound and an animated story with so much detail. The sound effects that go with each illustration are brilliant too.
We first looked at “Transformer” which was an old Melbourne tram that changed into a “transformer. I loved it immediately. As we moved around the gallery and experienced each illustration it made me feel so happy.
I haven’t enjoyed an exhibition so much for such a long time. So clever and appealing to a wide audience, with such beautiful representation of the city of Melbourne in “The 4 seasons of Melbourne” and ” Super Melbourne World” pieces.
Megan McDonald
Calendar for Artists
Learn more about “Marc-O-Matic” – Talented Multidisciplinary Artist & Animator
Some questions that I asked Marco with answers that will help you learn more about this extraordinarily talented artist.
Describe your art with 5 words
Intricate, Imaginative, Immersive, Augmented, Structural
What’s your greatest accomplishment?
Hmm… That would have to be proving family wrong and convincing them that I could transform my creativity into a career. My family’s a multicultural melting pot of Australian/Irish from my Dad and Filipino/Spanish from my Mum and both shared rather conservative and traditional views on what an ideal and prosperous career should be. So I’m happy that I listened to the beat of my own drum and moved to Melbourne to pursue my own path.
Who are your biggest influences?
I was always drawn (is that a pun there?) to artists who were highly imaginative and were more uniquely stylistic in their aesthetic and also displayed great levels of detail in their works. I loved getting lost in their own worlds, Hieronymus Bosch, Magritte, ShaunTan are just a few of my favourites.
Music has also been a huge influence in my creative process too. I generally listen to music first and then play out a story in my head based on the rhythm and vibe of the music. Composers like Ramin Djwadi, Hideki Sakamoto, Ben Houge and Sergei Rachmaninoff create music that develop action and changing degrees of pace in their scores and that really inspires me in defining the timing and actions in my own stories. One of my earlier animated shorts, ‘Clockwork Gentleman’ was inspired Rachmanoff’s ‘Bells of Moscow’ score.
What project are you working on now?
Juggling quite a few at the moment!
I’m currently prototyping and developing my very own augmented reality children’s picture book and creating augmented experiences for various clients and councils.
The City of Melbourne’s Knowledge Week Festival is on very soon so I will be showcasing my collection there in May and may also have another exhibition lined up a the Realm Library in Ringwood. So I’m mostly touring my augmented collection around whilst adding new works to it.
What keeps you going and why do you what you do?
I’m fascinated with our co-evolving relationship between culture and technology and how the two constantly inspire each other. Seeing creative technologies advance over the years has kept me curious and inspired to experiment, especially with immersive AR/VR tech.
I think there’s also something special about observing audience reactions to your work and that inspires me to push the boundaries further with my techniques and ideas.
What’s your dream goal with your art?
If I got to focus on my personal work full time that would be great. I think like a lot of creatives it can be tricky to manage that balancing act between professional client work and personal projects. Right now I’m really lucky to have a nice balance of that where the creative work I do for clients feeds into my own personal projects.
Have you got any upcoming exhibitions where people can see your work?
There’s a few little exhibits lined up this year!
I’ll be demonstrating at Academy Xi in Melbourne on Tuesday the 24th April and will be exhibiting my augmented art and storytelling collection ‘moving marvels’ as part of Melbourne Knowledge Week in May!
Melbourne Knowledge Week
7-13 May 2018
https://mkw.melbourne.vic.gov.