BERLIN.- This June, young digital artists Carla Santana and Alexander Govoni unveiled their project for the master class in visual communication at the UdK (University of the Arts) Berlin. Participation in the master class was open to only a handful of students who have completed their degree with distinction. The project sees itself as an intervention in the museum space. Refrakt consists of a specially developed augmented-reality smartphone and tablet app that the artists have used to enliven selected works in the Gemäldegalerie's collection, creating a virtual space for their own digital works.

By moving through the gallery with the app and pointing the smartphone camera at one of the 82 selected pictures, visitors can call up 3D installations, interactive artworks, and a variety of perception experiments on their devices' displays. The result is a crossover between the old masters and digital art, which allows the visitors to experience classical painting in a fresh and modern way.

The number of digital artworks being made around the world is currently increasing at a rapid pace, which is just one of the many reasons why Refrakt can be viewed as a blueprint for future museum models which position these non-physical works of art in the physical space. In this light, Carla Streckwall and Alexander Govoni's current virtual exhibition in the Gemäldegalerie, 'Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear', is just the first of several other planned interventions at different locations at the SMB. Visitors must download the app from the App Store before their visit to the Gemäldegalerie's permanent exhibition.

Refrakt is an augmented reality app. By scanning selected images, digital artworks become visible and the original pieces get transformed in virtual reality.

The digital world is ubiquitous, yet invisible to the naked human eye. Refrakt is a virtual museum revealing this increasingly relevant part of our daily lives and social interactions. By crossing the boundaries of physical space, various objects of all kinds of media play with the viewer’s perception of parallel realities. The device being used becomes an apparatus for this new world and lets the viewer interact with his immediate surroundings. While scanning real-­life objects, he will perceive alternate realities in a virtual space.

The first exhibition curated by Refrakt takes places at Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie. All 82 paintings in galleries 6, VI, VII, VIII and IX can be scanned with the app.

With their guerilla exhibition, Carla Streckwall and Alexander Govoni bring both virtual sculptures and image alterations in contact with classical paintings. The user is invited to perceive the museum from a new perspective and interact with artwork in virtual reality.

Please make sure to open Refrakt after downloading in order to complete the installation process and save the full exhibition onto your device. Subsequently, the app can be used in the permanent exhibition of the Gemäldegalerie.