You Can Be the Subject of This Stockholm Artist's Work
Art

You Can Be the Subject of This Stockholm Artist's Work

by Riley Runnells

Stockholm-based Yoyo Nasty just wants people to take part in her art. Known for her colorful paintings that play with humor and childlike naivety, Yoyo decided to create a new branch of her work in a digital context for everyone to enjoy: face filters.

On Instagram, viewers are invited to participate in the creation process. The exhibition, called "Facing Strange Dream," is part of a modern wave of art-making that's broadening its horizons through social media.

"It has been a long-time dream to incorporate augmented reality in my visual world in order to see how it can give more people the opportunity to take part in my art," Yoyo said in a press release. "In this exhibition, I want the viewer to be able to play freely in the borderland between art, body and technology. It's going to be so exciting to see how people choose to use my filters."

She painted and animated four face filters that can't be seen until the viewer opens their phone camera and places themselves inside the artwork. This way, Yoyo says the spectator is involved in creating the art piece, just by looking at it. Any of the co-created pieces can be sent to Yoyo, who will exhibit them on Halebop's site.

She's the first creator in this year's edition of Halebop Creative Call, which is a platform to give young artists the opportunity to develop their creativity. The Swedish telecom brand wants to challenge traditional work processes together with young creators. This is its second year, and Yoyo is one of four creators and collectives involved.

"Yoyo Nasty is the perfect example of someone who creates magic in her field," Johanna Sahlman, head of Halebop, said. "She is challenging a digital technology that many of us take for granted, and for Halebop it is extremely exciting to take part in how social media can be a platform where artists create their art together with others. It is exactly this type of innovation that we want to highlight with Creative Call."

"Facing Strange Dream" is live now and can be viewed in Instagram's filter tool. The various collected works can be seen at halebop.se/yoyonasty, and the site is continuously updated.

Photos courtesy of John Jamal Gille Columbus

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