Real Life
Austin Smith focuses on the fine line between the digital world and real life, and how the two are intertwined in this day and age. With “Real Worls,” Austin seeks to provoke the viewer to question what we instinctually perceive to be “reality,” given the cascade of digital influences constantly berating us. Inspired by rapidly advancing technologies in virtual reality and 3d technology to replicate reality, the work aims to do the opposite. Austin strives to create spaces that feel as if they were created digitally, but all with materials and items cultivated in real life. His medium of choice is for the most part most part screen-printing, but in this particular project he has branched out into a range of mixed media, from fashion design to sculpture, painting and installation. Placing the body in an environment with color combinations and shapes that one does not often encounter in nature, he has built a world of his own that has an ambiguous existence between reality and the digital world.
This work was created in collaboration with photographer Morgan Kranston.
Austin Smith is an artist currently attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago(SAIC). Currently, he is in his third year at SAIC and on his way to earning his BFA. Coming into the school at first with an interest in screen-printing, Austin has expanded his practice to include sculpture, performance, garment and a variety of other media to express his ideas. Although always coming back to screen-printing as a comfortable medium, he is less concerned with work that exists on the wall and strives to make art that can engage a wider audience and employ a variety of medium.
See more of Austin’s work on his site, and follow his digital and real life adventures on Instagram.
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