David Hockney: Current (2016/2017)
During this major solo exhibition of one of the most influential living artists, La Trobe’s Living Landscapes brought art to life.
During this major solo exhibition of one of the most influential living artists, La Trobe’s Living Landscapes brought art to life.
The NGV’s 2016/2017 exhibition David Hockney: Current was curated by the NGV together with David Hockney himself.
The exhibition featured over 1200 of Hockney’s works – some never seen before in Australia – including over 600 iPad digital drawings. It was this medium that inspired Living Landscapes.
Partnership highlights: Living Landscapes
David Hockney has a passion for landscapes. He’s also a frequent early adopter of new technology. Inspired by this, we created the Living Landscapes installation, which invited participants to use their artistic talents and technology to help protect a vital wildlife habitat..
Living Landscapes allowed people to create a plant on an iPad using Hockney-style colours and brush strokes. Then, using augmented reality (AR), they scanned their iPad over a scale replica of the University’s 30-hectare Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary and digitally ‘planted’ their creation amid an evolving virtual forest that grew as more drawings were added.
La Trobe students were on hand at the NGV to invite gallery visitors to give Living Landscapes a try, guide them through the experience, and share their own experiences and stories.
For each digital plant created, we planted a real tree at the Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary. By the time Living Landscapes concluded, we planted over 3000 trees – a meaningful contribution towards a sustainable future for the indigenous flora and fauna that live in the Sanctuary.