Argentina

Me canse de huir de vos
Creía conocerte
Creía saber quien sos
Pero no espere verte
Y abrazarte profundamente
No eras vos, era yo

Mentí cuando no te ame
Hui cuando te culpe
Mate cuando te abandoné
Negué cuando te insulte
Proyecte cuando me canse
Burocratice cuando no ayude
Insulte cuando no empatice
Corté donde no deje fluir
Lastime donde no te busque
Calcule donde te medí
Perdí cuando te solté
Aposte cuando jugué
Pise cabezas cuando salte
Forcé cuando dirigí
Instrumente cuando fui practica

Zurque de ambos lados la grieta
Zurque de ambos lados la razón
No me excuso
Me enseñaste esa manera
No te excuso

Nos toca evolucionar
Dejar de separar en dos
Dejar de decir adiós
Dejar de pensar que se termino
Dejar de negar lo que soy
Somos ambos, chetos y bastardos
Somos ambos, celestes y verdes
Somos ambos, amarillos y azulados
Somos ambos, rojos y blancos

La familia es sombra
Cuando no te volteas a conocerla
De frente un sol que flamea
entre franjas celestes
La prisión del amor
Al que nos resistimos los ajenos
La que forjamos los adictos internos

El sol se respira en la sombra
Por él caminamos 53 kms
Por él creímos en el eterno
Ya, basta, Argentines
Sos tan chete como cabeza
Sos tan pobre como rico
Somos un pretérito aparte
Inclusive como emigrante
Pero no mejor, solo otre
Una otrocidad que deseo
Abracemos sin rencor
Para tomar esta oportunidad
Entre miles que tb se nos darán

Pueblo rico, mente pobre
Pueblo pobre, mente rica
Hombres fuertes construyen hombres débiles
Hombres débiles construyen hombres fuertes
Sana sana, colita de rana
Sana lo que hoy no dejes para mañana

 

M. López

Jota

Lo que hacemos
Al explicar las cuadrupléjicas
Es que las cuadrumpléjicas
Suenen a cuadrúsjulas pléjicas
¿Qué qué es eso?
Es tu prima y por eso mi sangre
Esdrújula en la cuadrúmpula
La brújula entre las piernas
Cuerda y pérdida
Y por eso entendida
En tu burbuja
Haceme parte
De la ecuación
Porque no entro
Pero me lo merezco
Por la canción
Me pertenece
Esta es mi nación
La calle
La propia
La voz

 

M. López

Probemos con los pulgares

Probemos con estos que nos permitieron construir nuestras herramientas, pulir la piedra, escribir con una pluma, construir un diminuto reloj, ensamblar las partes de un microchip. Aquí estamos pulgares. Ustedes dos y yo. A ver quién dispara primero. Claramente morí yo.

Los vínculos, las artixulaciones tan únicas y sus filamentos que nos permiten llegar a niveles de prexision minúsculos.

Mandenle un beso, díganle que sueñe con los angelitos y que sepa que sea donde sea que esté, yo siempre la cuido y la cuidaré. Que me perdone si en un descuido o por ignorancia no lo hago. Si, decile que ya entendí que eso no estuvo tan tan bien. Lo mismo, si, eso estuvo totalmente mal. Pero me entiende, todo es parte.

Mi puna mejana, mi cuna familiar, el menhir en el bosque, el barco en alta mal.

 

M. López

PATREON

(Para leer este texto en Español, haga click aquí)

Welcome! I am Josie Watson

I’m a painter, art director, and entrepreneur in the IT-Arts world. I make paintings with my own hand technique and personal style, and I enhance them with Augmented Reality (AR).

To present my artwork, I create immersive art experiences in the form of interactive art exhibitions. My goal is to merge art and technology to bring them closer to people through my art brand:

 www.watsonart.com

Into another dimension

The fusion of art and technology gives me the possibility to expand the limits of my artistic expression. Technology gives imagination the power to become real in the digital realm. In this way, imagination can be felt through the eyes, ears, and body movements, allowing artists like me to shape our own worlds within a parallel dimension and invite others to experience art.

To do this, I use AR as a function that allows me to add digital information such as sounds, movement, shapes, colors and objects onto a tangible work of art. The work of art becomes an anchor to reality and a threshold to the other dimension.



COVID-19

After a year of travels doing my own research on IT-Art, I was about to travel to Buenos Aires -Argentina- to do an installation for the BA Arts Week, but then COVID-19 pandemic was announced. I was obliged to stay in Berlin with hardly any money and living on a friend’s sofa for two months.

Sadly, the pandemic impacted so dramatically Argentina that the economy came down (once again) and now it’s certain that the know-how I got through the last 4 years of research and experience would never have a professional possibility in my home country.

Resilience

From April to June 2020 I devoted myself to study even harder and create a new inspirational project inspired by Berlin. Since my first visit to Berlin in 2019 my impression is that this is the only city in the world where the rhythm of life had stopped many years ago and the pace of life develops in slow motion, as if the needles of the clock turned counterclockwise.I nourished myself during Corona with the dreams of Albert Einstein, astronomic studies on dark matter and time’s relativity theories, my own life-death experience and the company of exceptional people who also understand what it means to me that in Berlin “Time has Another Art”.

Your support

So far this shift of plans has become the greatest opportunity in my life as I presented the new concept in Berlin and was granted with a studio and a two years VISA! So now it’s my time to reinvent myself and achieve the last missing point: Economic support.
For this I’ve decided to create a community around my art production. People in the Watsoñando Family support financially me and my remote team of artists.

My community receives first-handed information about WatsOnArt’s productions, behind the scene insights of my current new life in Berlin (thoughts, photos, videos, notes, podcasts), and have the exclusivity to give direct feedback on my ongoing productions. This financial support inspires me to study my art concept more deeply every day and to focus solely on producing my best art possible.
So now, with this blessings and your help, surely it is time to go for it a 100%

 

I invite you to become part of the “Watsoñando” family (“Watsondreaming”) a private community of people that supports my art productions. I believe art saves people and so I want to wring its influence to you through my artwork. My main motivation is the community I work for and belong to. Your participation means the world to me.
You become a member by doing monthly donations. On behalf of your amazing help you receive a reward. Absolutely any help is a massive THANK YOU.

I am producing a new collection of paintings inspired by Berlin called “Time has another art” that will be exhibited in this city with it’s own performance show in a private event where I will invite you soon 🙂

My community’s support goes to:- Art supplies- Art Concept research- Performance’s expenses- Artists collaborations- Life expense

How much things cost in your life Josie? (to have in mind)

5 euros = One round-trip day ticket. Monthly transportation: 95 euros p/person.
10 euros = 1 professional brush. Monthly art materials: 600 euros.
25 euros = One tube 200 ml paint. Monthly painting expenses: 300-500 euros.
50 euros = Electric equipment. Monthly equipment exps. : 200-600 euros.
200 euros = One big sized canvas.
400 = Half of a studio rent.
750 = Half of life expenses of one person living in Berlin.

 

From Buenos Aires to Berlin

The trip out of Buenos Aires

Before launching the online sale in Argentina I felt I needed to learn more about what was happening in the world regarding this new form of art. I suspended all my activities in Buenos Aires, closed my studio, gave the keys to my good neighbor Brenda to water my plants and left on a trip only following my intuition.

 

Scotish Landspace at Cairngorms National Park, summer 2019

Low-cost Millennial

I could only afford one ticket to go, so I took it to Europe. I had been saving for the last 5 years for this trip, but the frequent devaluation of the Argentine pesos didn’t help so I had really moderate savings. I could accomplish a year of travels thanks to three things: 

– The most important: The help of the people who hosted me when visiting their city.

– 80% of the trip was possible thanks to the App TrustedHouseSitters. I had good childhood experience on taking care of large houses and pets so I easily gained a good reputation in the app. I took sitting places quite seriously. It gave me the time to get into the real pace of each city from the local point of view, not only the touristic. The main difference is having some responsibility in the place you stay, as someone´s pet or home.

– Living a low-cost lifestyle. There are always different budget plans to get to know a city and the opportunity to live the lowest is always a lifetime one. Enjoy the ride as it comes.

 

Taking care of "Bear" near High gate's cemetery in London.

Between London and Berlin

In the last 6 months I found myself going back and forward between London and Berlin, the two cities that were calling my attention the most and where I could find the best professionals and artists involved in the development of this new art genre.

The results of a year of research

Through this year I was invited to go back to Paris to participate with an interactive installation for the 2019 “Nuit Blanche” event at the CRI (Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire) and also to London to exhibit at the first “Tilt Brush Global Contest & Art Fest” (by Google) at the Realities Centre (London´s official Virtual Reality lab). Finally, I was introduced to 3DRuhr lab in Essen, Germany and invited to create a version of Automatic City of the Ruhr Area in the second semester of 2020.

Exhibition at the Realities Centre in London, January 2020

Urban Symphonies

I learned the meaning of “Urban Symphonies” through Sofía Mellino, an argentinean artist radicalized in Essen, Germany. She was the last artist I got to meet when coming back from London’s exhibition to Berlin whilst the frontiers were shutted down and Coronavirus started striking the world. Someone sent her my number (written on a potato chips packet) and she called me when I was in Amsterdam so it was easy to plan a visit to Essen. Sofía is a video artist inspired in Urban Symphonies, also known as a City Symphonies, a cinematic experimental audio-visual form that focuses on showing all aspects of a city. She showed me through history that how cinema directors have presented cities has determined the way we see, imagine, create and remember them. Cities are given the capacity to act, either making them interact with the characters in the film, or represent a character on its own. I embraced this new concept and started to work together with Sofía on the ideas and production lines for Automatic City of Berlin and the oncoming version of Automatic City of the Ruhr Area, where she lives and directs her projects.

First visit to the FabLabs of the Ruhrgebiert, Essen, Germany.

COVID-19 = Going back home trip cancelled

It was March 2020 and I was planning to go back to Buenos Aires to mount an “Automatic City” art installation for the Art’s Fair week in Buenos Aires for the Hipodromo de Palermo (the city’s horse race stadium) official opening. I was gathering the initial group of artists for this event and we were all so excited of how far our first collaboration had taken us. I was creating in Berlin an art network from producers, artists and investors interested in my work and even sponsoring that art installation. 

 

"Capítulo Uno, despertar en silencio" show at the theatre Santos4040, Buenos Aires.

A new beginning

But the news about COVID-19 made me face a life changing decision. Going down to Buenos Aires might mean not being able to come back in May as I had planned and loosing this new network. Plus the crisis in Argentina would most likely sink me with it. On the 13th of March I decided to change my ticket back home and stay in Berlin at a friend’s place who hosted me at his couch and let me settle a working desk for me to start a new production that was already beating in my heart: Automatic City of Berlin. 

Berlin = “Time has another art”

The worldwide coronavirus situation enhanced my inspiration towards the main concept: Time. While travelling through the EU and UK I identified each city with one concept. If London was “Business”, Paris was “Facade”, Madrid was “Marble”, then Berlin was “Time”.  

Despite being the capital of one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world, Berlin’s daily pace still follows a slow-motion deep contemplation of details, life and humankind. Berlin is not a beautiful city in the traditional sense: it used to be poor and it’s still sexy because of the relaxed mindset of the people that choose to live in it.

Coming back from London to Berlin I could already start feeling how time was being stopped all over the world. Countries being locked down, train trips being reduced, flights almost reduced to repatriation, shops closing, restaurants empty, desolated streets. When I arrived in Berlin the breaking-notion of Time that the city had always given me to reflect was imposed all over the world. If there was a place for me to do quarantine was Berlin.

A photo of Berlin by Josie Watson on March 2020.

Why Berlin?

Getting to know Berlin inspired the resignification of Automatic City. Automatic City became a 3D parallel reality in itself to which I travel to express and understand my life in each human organization that reality presents to me. And it could be, to you, an immersive fantastic reality that would feature different cities of the world through different moments of my life and of our collective history. In this sense, producing Automatic City of Berlin during the COVID-19 pandemic would allow me to preserve both my and other people’s impressions of how time appears to have stopped for humankind, everywhere.

Reference: “Berlin: Symphonie der Großstadt” (1927) – Walter Ruttmann

One of the most recognizable creations tagged as City Symphony is “Berlin: Symphonie der Großstadt” (1927) from Walter Ruttman as he allowed us to understand how Berlin was in those times. Surprisingly, throughout the film’s footage, no recognisable monument of Berlin appears, resulting in an absence of recognisable elements that make the city of Berlin an allegory of the metropolis of the time with all its faults and virtues.

The value of heritage

The past has a fundamental and principal value in the personal and collective identity of individuals and societies. The past continues to have strength as an identity phenomenon. As a reference of what we were, what we are and as an answer of what it can be. And in this sense, cultural goods play a fundamental role, since it is the tangible objects that evoke that past. That is why we consider Heritage to be objects or elements of great value. Like heritage itself, its value depends on the social and historical context in which it is analysed. In the current context, it may be an economic resource as a tourist attraction or as a museum or educational resource. The case is that in order to appreciate heritage, the use it is given has a lot to do with it, as well as the symbolic value it has for the people around it. The main value of Cultural Heritage is what it represents in today’s society, its historical value as a resource to generate identity, prestige and strengthen the culture of the people.  But its historical value is not the only appreciable value. Its aesthetic beauty can be a great attraction as an element that evokes a brilliant past or as an artistic model.

A remain of the wall of Berlin by Josie Watson on April 2020.

Into another dimension of time and space

A Urban Symphony is the creation of a new city that results from the creator’s own vision of an urban space, an artistic expression that needs the configuration of a space that constitutes a reality. Selecting urban places means building a certain reality and pursuing the development of a new architecture based on the two fundamental elements of film content: time and space. Author, time, space and subjectivity are the basic subjects on which the film contributions of the symphonies are based. The sensation of similarity to real space produced by the film image is so powerful that it makes us obviate the flatness of the image, giving the film space the third dimension in the collective imagination, that is to say, that our perception reacts to the film image as to a real space and, nevertheless, we are before a realistic representation of an imaginary space that seems to us to perceive as true.

Bicimático
Autobusmático Buenos Aires WatsOnArt Josie Watson Arte
"Bici-mático" painting 2012 by Josie Watson.
Photo by Josie Watson on April 2020.

 

Millennial Identity

I understood the importance of highlighting my identity as a Millenial by analysing my own ways of production. I was born in 1988 in Argentina in a world where the internet was not yet available to almost anyone and I knew life before globalization. I took analog photos, watched movies in VHS, heard music on the radio, taped my beloved tracks on cassettes, used floppy disks, fought with my siblings over the use of the landline for internet, played the first arcade games, went back to the middle age with Age of Empires, used ICQ to meet strangers and MSN to chat with boyfriends, worked for an agency creating backgrounds for a private Stan Lee’s videogame project and applied Augmented Reality on my collection paintings. Millennials saw life change early enough to embrace the digital era as our own identity yet still keep the inner analog pace of time. 

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a digital feature that allows a device to display films, animations, sounds, effects, words or any source of information on a real object. After tracking and recognizing a designated image/form placed in reality (called “marker”) with a special AR camera integrated inside a digital device, the tangible form gets enlarged by the addition of a digital form of art, the connector within this two realities will be a broader concept or form of art in itself that we call IT-Art.

An espectator feedback on the exhibition at the Realities Centre in London, January 2020.

 

Innovation

By using Augmented Reality to create a Urban Symphony about Berlin I approach an intention of creating a poly expressive symphony starting from a piece of art itself, a collection painting playing it’s own role in a particular space and time. The viewer ends up feeling how the art is enhanced into deeper realities with multiple inner concepts and interpretations triggering the search for his own and finding it in the new IT-Art identity.

From Art to IT-Art

To explain it in a more familiar way, IT-Art is different from traditional visual art: it is no longer a tangible piece of this world that invites us to travel through our imagination to a fantastic world, but a form of digital art that uses a real-world anchor to help us enter a parallel reality and enables us to choose, using technology, how long we’d like to stay there and how to come back to reality through the tangible art.

"Reflection" IT-Art (original oil painting on canvas and digital animation and sound) by Josie Watson.

 

Life after COVID-19: A new perception of technology 

If there is something the human race will not forget after Coronavirus pandemy is how the Internet became an essential necessity to connect and take care of others. From the health systems online updates of the spread-deaths-recovered of the disease, to meetings online via Zoom and people finding time to learn new creative skills through social media (as Millennials and Centennials did since they were young). We can say that from this situation on the Internet gained its own cultural heritage and technology became closer to save people. This is why the expression of Berlin during the current situation has to be made through the fusion of art and technology.

First official IT-Art

My goal would be to create the first official IT-Art piece of art inspired by the city of Berlin in a precise historical circumstance. After the experience in Buenos Aires as a local private production and trial of many forms of fusion of art and technology, WatsOnArt was ready to produce a more mature piece of art focusing on the IT-Art new concept. 

Exhibition “Automatic City of Berlin – Time has another Art”

The final outcome of this production would be a collaborative exhibition with a special performance that could be visited by the public to experience IT-Art live. The production of this exhibition would be an IT-Art form itself created through online collaboration as many of these people live in different parts of the globe and would be able to connect through the internet, until lockdowns are gone and they can finally meet in Berlin.

Photo of a rolled up copy of "Alta en el cielo" IT-Art. 

IT-Art product

The importance of creating a product out of this first IT-Art piece through printed copies on paper or stretched on canvas sold online is to present IT-Art as an art genre initially close to people (accessible prices) and into their houses. The pre-release would be made through Kickstarter, fostering a community of art and tech lovers in search of new trends. The incomes of this pre-release would be used for the marketing of the product. Finally the product will be released in WatsOnArt e-shop and the incomes of that sales used to create the next IT-Arts.

Kickstarter

For this, I created a Kickstarter campaign to raise the first funds for this new production.

To be continued: Click to read about the Kickstarter campaign.

Photo of a mural in a random street in Berlin, April 2020.

El orígen de WatsOnArt

¿Quién soy?

Me llamo Josie Watson y soy una artista argentina de ascendencia escocesa. Soy reconocida en mi país por la serie de pinturas “Ciudad Automática” inspirada en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (mi tierra natal) que me introdujo en el mercado local a una edad muy temprana. A través de esta serie de pinturas y de mi interés por la tecnología desde la infancia me introduciría en el mundo de las realidades inmersivas donde el arte y la tecnología se fusionan para expresar la identidad de la nueva era digital en su propio nuevo género de arte: IT-Art.

"Femme-Automatique" pintura original, fotografía sacada en el año 2011.

Una joven carrera artística

Comencé a pintar y a exponer mi obra a los 10 años gracias a la tutoría de muchos artistas argentinos de renombre que me trataron como un colega desde el principio. Todos coincidieron en que necesitaba estudiar arte por mi cuenta porque tenía un estilo único, lo cual era raro que ocurriera a tan temprana edad y podía ser influenciada incorrectamente por asistir a sus clases. Como ya era disciplinada y estaba comprometida con mi arte, seguí sus consejos y frecuenté sus ateliers como amigo para colaborar y disfrutar del arte de los demás mientras creaba mi propio estudio en casa de mis padres y pintaba a diario. A la edad de 19 años trabajaba como asistente en una casa de subastas de arte que también me dio la comprensión de la verdadera economía de las artes. De esta manera podía lograr todos los aspectos de una carrera artística desde una edad temprana.

"Femme-Automatique" en la exposición de unr emate de arte en Arroyo Remates, Buenos Aires 2011.

Primeras ventas

Los cuadros de mi serie “Automatic City” fueron introducidos en el mercado en 2010-11 (cuando tenía 20 años) a través de uno de mis colegas de arte, Adolfo Nigro, que los presentó a un galerista. Una peculiaridad, sólo las pocas personas que me conocían directamente sabían mi edad, pero en la escena artística de Buenos Aires la gente mi nombre y pintura correspondían a un artista masculino de unos maduros 60 años. Esto también se debió al tamaño y calidad de las pinturas, al tiempo que mi currículum mostraba que he estado exhibiendo mi trabajo y a la coherencia de mi trabajo visual.

Congreso Nacional Buenos Aires WatsOnArt Josie Watson Arte
"Como llueve de abajo para arriba" pintura por Josie Watson.

De artista “emergente” a artista “consagrada”

A través de los años logré las mayores ventas en la categoría de “Artistas emergentes”. En 2014 fui invitado a exponer en el Centro de Arte Británico donde hice una gran exposición en la que el 80% de las pinturas ya eran propiedad de coleccionistas de la ciudad. La exposición fue exhibida en una galería de tres pisos y atrajo la atención de muchos galeristas y curadores. En 2016 mi pintura inspirada en el Congreso Nacional de Argentina fue subastada en la categoría de “Artistas consagrados” posicionándome junto a mis colegas de arte. El cuadro fue comprado como regalo para un importante político argentino.

 

Necesidad de innovación

Desde entonces he tenido la oportunidad de exponer en casi todos los lugares a los que he solicitado, pero en 2016 la exuberancia y la solemnidad de los salones y museos me parecieron vacíos. Sentí que faltaba algo entre la pintura y el espectador. Sin estar completamente segura de lo que estaba haciendo pero siguiendo mi intuición, invité a algunos amigos y artistas cuyo trabajo creativo admiraba a crear una exposición en colaboración inspirada en la misma serie de pinturas. Todos ellos me dieron su propio enfoque profesional de la serie y creé un plan para fusionar todos los comentarios. Ninguno de ellos sabía realmente lo que estábamos haciendo hasta la primera exposición que tuvo lugar en el espacio de arte del Banco Ciudad (el banco oficial de la ciudad de Buenos Aires).

 

La primera exposición “Ciudad Automática de Buenos Aires”.

Creamos conjuntamente una exposición interactiva inspirada en la ciudad en la que vivíamos, donde las formas de arte tradicionales (pinturas, dibujos, esculturas y una instalación) se fusionaron con formas tecnológicas como sensores, luces, proyecciones cartográficas, realidad aumentada y características interactivas. Bajo mi dirección artística, cada fusión se fusionó para mejorar el arte de manera que conectara la forma tangible con la forma digital, y al hacerlo descubrí que las nuevas generaciones tienen una nueva comprensión del arte. Un nuevo concepto nació que, confío, muy pronto se desarrollará en un nuevo género de arte que llamé IT-Art.

 

"Bombonera" pintura y IT-Art de Josie Watson.

Millennial = Los nacidos en un mundo en reseción

En 2017 la crisis económica en Argentina volvió a ser mala y nos hizo trabajar a todos horas extras o doble trabajo para conseguir el dinero suficiente para pagar las cuentas, además de nuestros proyectos creativos. Nuestro tiempo para reunirnos se redujo por esto y la energía que cada uno de los artistas podía dar era limitada. Así que decidí tomar la exposición en mis propias manos y convertirla en un proyecto bajo mi dirección y centrarme en sacar lo mejor del tiempo de cada artista. Todos estábamos muy motivados, así que tener a alguien dedicado al proyecto las 24 horas del día era crucial para lograr nuestros objetivos.

Para ello, bajé mis propias horas de trabajo, reduje mis ingresos, aprendí a vivir con lo esencial, dejé muchas actividades y sólo mantuve mi trabajo como muralista del “Proyecto Balvanera”, una actividad de los vecinos para pintar las fachadas grises de nuestro barrio. Se necesitaba a alguien que dirigiera este nuevo proyecto y yo era el único que podía entender realmente la creación de cada artista y llevarla más lejos en un proyecto más grande. Podía ver su futuro. Yo podía ver ese futuro.

 

Instalación interactiva en el Banco Ciudad, 2017.
Instalación interactiva en el Teatro Santos4040, 2017.

¿Usted es Josie Watson?

Las exhibiciones del proyecto demandaron marketing de medios sociales y un patrocinador. Me presenté al Banco Ciudad, a patrocinadores privados, al gobierno de la ciudad de Buenos Aires y a algunos inversores. Casi siempre oí la misma expresión que había escuchado muchas veces desde que empecé a exhibir mi trabajo desde los 10 años: “¿Usted es Josie Watson? Esperábamos conocer a un hombre mayor de unos 60 años… ¡no a una mujer tan joven!”. Creeme, eso puede sonar como una anécdota divertida pero también trajo muchas situaciones sexistas, insinuaciones, pre-juicios, discriminación y doce historias diferentes de diferentes personas con la intención de manipular el proyecto. Tomé todas estas experiencias como un aprendizaje necesario para algo digno de venir más tarde.

¿Usted es Josie Watson?

Las exhibiciones del proyecto demandaron marketing de medios sociales y un patrocinador. Me presenté al Banco Ciudad, a patrocinadores privados, al gobierno de la ciudad de Buenos Aires y a algunos inversores. Casi siempre oí la misma expresión que había escuchado muchas veces desde que empecé a exhibir mi trabajo desde los 10 años: “¿Usted es Josie Watson? Esperábamos conocer a un hombre mayor de unos 60 años… ¡no a una mujer tan joven!”. Creeme, eso puede sonar como una anécdota divertida pero también trajo muchas situaciones sexistas, insinuaciones, pre-juicios, discriminación y doce historias diferentes de diferentes personas con la intención de manipular el proyecto. Tomé todas estas experiencias como un aprendizaje necesario para algo digno de venir más tarde.

Josie Watson y Carlos Leiza, Director del Departamento de Arte y Compromiso del Banco Ciudad, 2017.

Primeras financiaciones

Obtuve el patrocinio del Banco Ciudad (Banco Oficial de la ciudad de Buenos Aires) por un año y dos fondos públicos, uno para mantener las actividades del mural social en mi barrio y el otro para la producción de exposiciones. También recibí fondos privados de un coleccionista que me conocía desde hacía varios años y para el cual había creado un cuadro especial “Alta en el cielo”. La inspiración para la pintura vino de su -positiva- despedida de su padre, con quien solía caminar hasta el obelisco todos los domingos durante muchos años. Escogió algunos personajes, el lugar representado y algunos colores. Cuando le hablé de esta exposición no dudó en patrocinarnos. En un país en crisis, cada apoyo era esencial, ya que mi principal preocupación era pagar el trabajo del artista para crear y mantener una red sólida.

WatsOnArt

El patrocinio del banco nos ayudó a hacer la exposición itinerante durante un año y para cada presentación desarrollar cada fusión un poco más en este nuevo concepto. Cuando el período terminó, convertí todo mi nuevo conocimiento en una marca de arte que llamé WatsOnArt.

Me tomó un tiempo encontrar el nombre para mi marca de arte. Fue en 2008, diez años antes, mientras me relajaba con una de mis hermanas mayores, Vicky Watson, bajo la choza de paja del patio trasero de nuestros padres, que me dijo: “Cuando crezcas tendrás tu propio negocio y se llamará WatsOnArt!”. Recordé esto justo después de que escribí “WATSONART” en una mierda de hoja de papel en blanco.

WatsOnArt es una futura plataforma colaborativa de IT-Art que actualmente proporciona un valor inmersivo a las pinturas como un producto mínimo viable. En detalle, es una aplicación de realidad aumentada que extiende la historia contada por las piezas de arte a través de un despliegue de animación digital, capturando la atención de los espectadores hacia la pintura tangible.

Con WatsOnArt produzco experiencias artísticas interactivas centradas en el contenido del patrimonio cultural. Cada producción fusiona el esfuerzo de artistas de diferentes disciplinas que trabajan a distancia para un objetivo principal: la creación de una pieza de IT-Art colaborativa.

Fundé WatsOnArt con un método de producción cíclico basado en tres bases entrelazadas por el concepto de Interactividad a través de IT-Art:

– Producción de Arte: Exposiciones de Ciudades Automáticas inspiradas en ciudades del mundo.
– Desarrollo IT: Desarrollo de una plataforma de colaboración para el IT-Art.
– Productos: Producción y venta de productos IT-Art.

 

 

Primeros productos

En diciembre de 2018 creé los primeros productos de IT-Art y probé sus ventas en Buenos Aires. Los resultados fueron exitosos y me mostraron que funcionaban perfectamente para acercar esta nueva forma de arte a un público no familiarizado con el contenido inmersivo o incluso no lo suficientemente cerca de las artes.

 

Siguiendo los pasos de Gardel

La crisis económica golpeó de nuevo a la Argentina en enero de 2019. Me uní a la gran fugade cerebros que dejaron Argentina en el año 2019 cansada de tener todo tan difícil en Latinoamérica y compré un viaje de ida a Europa sin ningún plan. Sólo seguiría mi intuición, la que me llevó a la creación de WatsOnArt. Si algo era seguro era que necesitaba hacer un viaje para aprender más sobre esta nueva forma de arte. Para ello tenía que cerrar mi estudio de arte y despedirme de la ciudad, mi patria, que me había inspirado inicialmente.

Se dice que para ser reconocido en tu país tienes que encontrar el éxito en otro lugar primero. . Esa es la historia de Carlos Gardel, uno de los músicos de tango más conocidos de Argentina, cuya música sólo fue aclamada cuando regresó de encontrar el éxito en París.

Instalación interactiva en el Banco Ciudad, 2017.

The origin of WatsOnArt

Who am I?

My name is Josie Watson and I am an argentinean artist of Scottish descent. I am recognized in my country for the series of paintings “Automatic City” inspired in the City of Buenos Aires (my homeland) that introduced me to the local market at a very young age. Through this series of paintings and my interest in technology since childhood I would introduce my self in the inmersive realities world where art and technology fusion to express the new digital era identity in it’s own new art genre: IT-Art. 

"Femme-Automatique" painting, photo taken on 2011.

 A young art career

I started to paint and exhibit my work at the age of 10 thanks to the tutoring of many argentinean renowned artists who treated me as a colleague from the beginning. They all agreed I needed to study art on my own because I had a unique style, which was rare to happen at such an early age and could get incorrectly influenced by attending their classes. As I was already disciplined and committed to my art I followed their advice and frequented their ateliers as a friend to collaborate and enjoy each other’s art while creating my own studio at my parents home and painting daily. By the age of 19 I was working as an assistant in an art auction house which also gave me the understanding on the real economics of arts. This way I could accomplish all the aspects of an art career from a young age. 

"Femme-Automatique" at an Auction Exhibition at Arroyo Remates, Buenos Aires 2011.

First sales 

The paintings of my series “Automatic City” were introduced to the market in 2010-11 (when I was 20 years old) through one of my art colleagues, Adolfo Nigro, who presented them to a galerist. A peculiarity, only the few people that knew me directly knew my age,  but in the art scene of Buenos Aires people guessed that by my name I should be a man of 60 years old. This was also because of the size and quality of the paintings, for how long my CV showed that I have been exhibiting my work and the coherence of my visual work. 

Congreso Nacional Buenos Aires WatsOnArt Josie Watson Arte
"Como llueve de abajo para arriba" painting by Josie Watson.

From “emerging” to “consecrated” artist

Through the years I achieved top sales in the “Emerging artists” category. In 2014 I was invited to exhibit at the British Arts Center where I did a large exhibition in which 80% of the paintings were already owned by collectionists of the city. The exhibition was displayed on a three floored gallery and attracted the attention of many gallerists and curators. In 2016 my painting inspired in the National Congress of Argentina was auctioned in the “Consecrated artists” category positioning me together with my art colleagues. The painting was bought as a gift for an important argentinian politician.

 

Need of innovation

Since then I had the chance to exhibit almost anywhere I applied to, but by 2016 the exuberance and solemnity of saloons and museums felt empty to me. I felt that there was something missing between the painting and the viewer. Without being completely sure of what I was doing but following my intuition, I invited some friends and artists who’s creative work I admired to create a collaborative exhibition inspired by the same series of paintings. They all gave me their own professional approach to the series and I created a plan to fusion all the feedback. None of them really knew what we were doing until the very first exhibition that took place at the art space of Banco Ciudad (the official bank of the city of Buenos Aires).

 

First exhibition “Automatic City of Buenos Aires”

We jointly created an interactive exhibition inspired by the city we lived in, where traditional art forms (paintings, drawings, sculptures, and an installation) were fusioned with technological forms such as sensors, lights, mapping projections, augmented reality and interactive features. Under my art direction, each fusion was fused to enhance the art in a way that would connect the tangible form to the digital form, and by doing so I found that the new generations have a new understanding of art. A new concept was born that, I trust, will very soon develop into a new art genre that I called IT-Art.

 

"Bombonera" painting and IT-Art by Josie Watson.

Millennial =  Born in a world in a crisis

In 2017 the economic crisis in Argentina was bad again and made us all work extra hours or double work to get enough money to pay the bills, besides our creative projects. Our time to meet was reduced by this and the energy each of the artists could give was limited. So I decided to take the exhibition into my own hands and turned it into a project under my direction and focus on taking the best out of each artist’s time. We were all highly motivated, so having someone devoted to the project 24 hs was crucial to accomplish our goals.

For this, I lowered my own working hours, reduced my income, learned to live with the essentials, quit many activities and only kept my work as a muralist for “Proyecto Balvanera”, a neighbors activity to paint the gray fachades our district. Someone was needed to direct this new project and I was the one who could really understand each artist’s creation and take it further into a bigger project. I could see it’s future.

 

Interactive Instalation at Banco Ciudad, 2017.
Interactive Performance at Theatre Santos4040, 2017.

You are Josie Watson?

The project exhibitions demanded social media marketing and a Sponsor. I presented myself to the Banco Ciudad, private sponsors, the city of Buenos Aires government and some investors. Almost every time I heard the same expression I had heard many times since I started exhibiting my work since the age of 10: “You are Josie Watson? We were expecting to meet a old man of around 60ish… not such a young woman!”. Believe me, that may sound like a funny anecdote but it also brought many sexist situations, insinuations, pre-judgments, discrimination and twelfth different stories of different people intending to manipulate the project. I took all this experiences as necessary learning for something worthy coming later.

You are Josie Watson?

The project exhibitions demanded social media marketing and a Sponsor. I presented myself to the Banco Ciudad, private sponsors, the city of Buenos Aires government and some investors. Almost every time I heard the same expression I had heard many times since I started exhibiting my work since the age of 10: “You are Josie Watson? We were expecting to meet a old man of around 60ish… not such a young woman!”. Believe me, that may sound like a funny anecdote but it also brought many sexist situations, insinuations, pre-judgments, discrimination and twelfth different stories of different people intending to manipulate the project. I took all this experiences as necessary learning for something worthy coming later.

Josie Watson and Carlos Leiza, Head director of Art and Pledge Department of Banco Ciudad, 2017.

First fundings

I gained the Banco Ciudad (Official bank of the city of Buenos Aires) sponsorship for a year and two public funds, one to keep my activities social mural activities in my neighbourhood and the other one for the exhibitions production. I also received private funding from a collectionist who knew me for several years and for whom I had created a special painting “Alta en el cielo”. The inspiration for the painting came from his -positive- farewell to his dad, with whom he used to walk to the obelisk every Sunday for many years. He chose some characters, the place represented and some colours. When I told him about this exhibition he didn’t doubt that he would sponsor us. In a country in crisis, each support was essential, as my main worry was to pay the artist’s work to create and maintain a solid network.

WatsOnArt

The bank’s sponsorship helped us make the exhibition itinerant for one year and for each presentation develop each fusion a little bit further into this new concept. When the period was over I turned all my new know-how into an art brand which I called WatsOnArt.

It took me a while to find the name for my art brand. It was on 2008, ten years before, while I was chilling with one of my eledest sisters, Vicky Watson, under our parents backyard straw hut that she said to me: “When you grow up you are going to have your own business and it’s going to be called WatsOnArt!”. I remembered this right after I wrote down “WATSONART” on a shit of blank sheet of paper.

 WatsOnArt is a future collaborative IT-Art platform-to-be that currently provides immersive value to paintings as a minimum viable product. In detail, it’s an Augmented Reality App that extends the story told by the art pieces through a display of digital animation, capturing the viewers attention back towards the tangible painting.

With WatsOnArt I produce interactive artistic experiences focused on cultural heritage content. Each production merges the effort of artists from different disciplines working remotely for one main goal: the creation of a collaborative IT-Art piece.

I funded WatsOnArt with a three based cyclic method of production intertwined by the concept of Interactivity through IT-Art:

– Art Production: Automatic City exhibitions inspired by cities of the world.
– IT Development: Development of collaborative platform for IT-Art.
– Products: Production and sale of IT-Art products.

 

 

First products

In decemeber 2018 I created the first IT-Art products and tested its sales in Buenos Aires. Results were successful and showed me they worked perfect to bring this new art form closer to an audience not familiar with immersive content or even not close enought to arts.

 

Following Gardel’s steps

The economic crisis was striking back in Argentina by January 2019. I joined the big brain rush of millennial tired of having everything so difficult in Latinamerica and bought one-way ticket trip to Europe with absolutely no plan. I would only follow my intuition, the one that had lead me to the creation of WatsOnArt. If something was certain was that I needed to go on a trip to learn more about this new form of art. For this I had to close down my art studio and say farewell to the city, my homeland, that had inspired me initially.  

It is said that to be recognized in your country you have to find success somewhere else first. That’s the story of Carlos Gardel, one of Argentina’s most renown tango musicians who’s music was only acclaimed when he came back from finding success in Paris.

First Interactive Exhibition at Banco Ciudad, July 2017.

Concurso VR y Festival 2020 por Tilt Brush con arte AR & DJ’s

El debut oficial de WatsOnArt en Londres

El 13 de febrero de 2020 WatsOnArt presentó “Ciudad Automática”, una expresión interactiva de la ciudad de Buenos Aires y su aplicación WatsOnArt, añadiendo más diversión a la escena de RV del Concurso Mundial de Pinceles Inclinables y el Festival de Arte organizado por el Realities Centre en el espacio de Huckletree en Whitecity. El lugar reunió a los artistas y especialistas de RV durante el día que estaban compitiendo digitalmente por un primer precio excepcional. Durante el evento Josie Watson presentó WatsOnArt al público y todos disfrutaron de viajar a Buenos Aires a través de su arte. ¡Echa un vistazo al video!

Los objetivos de WatsOnArt son fantásticos: “Estoy trabajando en WatsOnArt para convertirme en una plataforma abierta para los artistas, resolviendo muchos problemas que la tecnología aún no tiene en mente para este mercado, y al mismo tiempo una línea de patrocinio para crear pinturas inspiradas en nuevas ciudades del mundo empezando por Londres y Berlín en 2020. Mi estancia en Londres comenzó con una visita de 5 días y se extendió a 6 meses. Venir aquí siempre es increíble. Londres entiende el arte como diferenciador haciendo que nuestros productos sean únicos, impresionantes y duraderos en la memoria de la gente. Estoy muy agradecida por la red que estoy construyendo aquí y en Berlín para esta producción. Estoy muy emocionada por este evento y por la oportunidad de colaborar con el Realities Centre de Londres. Josie Watson, Fundadora y Directora. La artista tiene confirmadas dos exposiciones para el 2021 que incluirán a estas ciudades en su proyecto de arte interactivo. “Tener a Londres y Berlín como musas es algo con lo que he soñado toda mi vida, estoy deseando que llegue”.

Josie Watson, una renombrada pintora de Argentina, comenzó en 2017 con algunas investigaciones sobre instalaciones interactivas desarrollando una exposición itinerante para el Banco Ciudad, el Banco oficial de la ciudad de Buenos Aires. Para ello, dirigió un equipo de artistas y programadores y recibido un fondo público y el patrocinio de un banco. Esta primera experiencia le hizo comprender el impacto masivo de la fusión del arte con la tecnología al servicio de la cultura y fundó WatsOnArt. Desde entonces ha estado utilizando su caso real de producción para analizar el proceso de AR en instalaciones reales y exposiciones de arte interactivo. Como millennial, ávida por soluciones tecnológicas, creó un plan de negocios y está trabajando en una plataforma que da soluciones a los artistas y el arte a las personas a precios accesibles. con características como AR/VR, tienda online, integración B2B y más. WatsOnArt tiene como objetivo ser la principal plataforma para este nuevo género artístico: IT Art, como Josie Watson llama a la nueva identidad cultural de la era digital.

El festival y torneo de arte de pinceles inclinables tendrá lugar en Londres el próximo mes.

Puedes participar en el espectáculo o participar.

Google’s Tilt Brush app ha sido la piedra angular de la expresión artística de la realidad virtual (RV) desde su lanzamiento en 2016, permitiendo a los artistas tanto amateurs como profesionales pintar en tres dimensiones. Muchos competidores han llegado a lo largo de los años, peroTilt Brush sigue siendo un firme favorito, por lo que el Realities Centre de Londres es la sede de la etapa británica del Global Tilt Brush Art Fest and Tournament que tendrá lugar el próximo mes.

El evento es para los artistas y los fans de la RV, una comunidad que se reúne con comida, música y una competición amistosa. Los que participen podrán competir para crear el entorno artístico de RV más inmersivo, con 45 minutos cada uno. Para añadir un ambiente festivo a los procedimientos, un DJ en vivo se transmitirá a través de Twitch totalmente en VR impulsado por TribeXR.

Londres es el evento insignia del Festival y Torneo de Arte de Pinceles Basculantes 2020, que actualmente tiene lugar en ocho ciudades de todo el mundo: Toronto, Boston, Nueva York, Vancouver, Londres (Canadá), San Francisco y Los Ángeles. Las ciudades tienen sus propios participantes locales que compiten por premios basados en sus obras de arte, con ganadores locales y luego dos grandes premios para el premio Another Reality ARtist Award, y Another Reality Best New ARtist Award.

Entre los premios que se pueden obtener se encuentran el aparecer en una cartelera de Times Square, 750 libras (1.000 dólares) y un viaje con todos los gastos pagados a una conferencia de AWE en Santa Clara, Tel Aviv, Munich o Shenzhen, a elección de los ganadores. Se anunciarán más premios en las próximas semanas.

El Global Tilt Brush Art Fest y el Torneo tendrá lugar el jueves 13 de febrero en el Realities Centre. London, from 12pm – 9pm GMT. Los boletos de espectadores están disponibles por £3 GBP, el pase de acceso que permite competir cuesta £17.

Para más detalles sobre el evento dirígete a official Eventbrite page, y sigue a VRFocus

2020 VR Tilt Brush Art Fest & Tournament with AR Art & DJ’s

WatsOnArt’s official debut in London

On the 13th of February 2020 WatsOnArt presented “Automatic City”, an interactive expression of the city of Buenos Aires that could be enhanced with Augmented Reality through WatsOnArt´s app, adding more fun to the VR scene of the Tilt Brush Global Contest & Art Fest organized by the Realities Centre at the Huckletree space in Whitecity. The Venue gathered VR artists and specialists through the day who where compiting digitally for an outstanding first price. During the event Josie Watson presented WatsOnArt to the public and everyone enjoyed travelling to Buenos Aires through her art. Have a look on the video! 

WatsOnArt’s goals are fantastic: “I am working on WatsOnArt to become an open platform for artists, solving many problems technology is not yet having in mind for this market, and at the same time a sponsor line to create paintings inspired in new cities of the world starting with London and Berlin in 2020. My time in London started with a 5 days visit and extended to 6 months. Coming here is always amazing. London understands art as differentiation makes our products unique, impressive and long lasting in people´s memories. I look forward the network I am managing here and in Berlin for this production. I am really excited about this event and the opportunity to collaborate with the Realities Centre!”. Josie Watson, Founder and Director. The artist got confirmed two oncoming exhibitions for 2021 that will include this cities in her interactive art project. “Having London and Berlin as muses is something I dreamed all my life, I am really looking forward to it”. 

Josie Watson, a renowned painter of Argentina, started in 2017 with some casual research on interactive installations developing an itinerant exhibition for Banco Ciudad, the official Bank of the city of Buenos Aires. For this, she directed a team of artists and programmers and received a public fund and the banks sponsorship. This first experience made her understand the massive impact of art fusion with technology in service of culture and founded WatsOnArt. Since then she has been using her real case of production to analyse the process of AR implementation in real installation and interactive art exhibitions. As a millennial, savvy for solutions, she created a business plan and is working on a platform that gives solutions to artists and art to people at accessible prices. With features as AR/VR, online shop, B2B integration and more. WatsOnArt aims to be the main platform for this new art genre: IT Art, how Josie Watson calls the new digital era cultural identity.   

 

Global Tilt Brush Art Fest And Tournament Taking Place In London Next Month

You can either spectate or take part.

Google’s Tilt Brush app has been the cornerstone of virtual reality (VR) artistic expression since its launch in 2016, allowing artists both amateur and professional to paint in three dimensions. Many competitors have arrived over the years but Tilt Brush still remains a firm favourite which is why the Realities Centre in London is hosting the UK leg of the Global Tilt Brush Art Fest and Tournament taking place next month.

The event is for artists and VR fans alike, a community get together involving food, music and some friendly competition. For those actually participating they will be able to compete to make the most immersive VR art environment, having 45 minutes each. To add a party vibe to the proceedings a live DJ will be broadcasting via Twitch entirely in VR powered by TribeXR.

London is the flagship event for the 2020 Global Tilt Brush Art Fest and Tournament which currently takes place in eight cities worldwide: Toronto, Boston, New York City, Vancouver, London (Canada), San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The cities have their own local participants competing for prizes based on their artwork, with local and then two grand prize winners for the Another Reality ARtist Award, and Another Reality Best New ARtist Award.

Prizes up for grabs include being featured on a Times Square Billboard, £750 ($1000 USD) and an all-expense paid trip to an AWE conference in either Santa Clara, Tel-Aviv, Munich, or Shenzhen, winners choice. Further prizes are due to be announced over the coming weeks.

The Global Tilt Brush Art Fest and Tournament will be taking place on Thursday, 13th February at Realities Centre London, from 12pm – 9pm GMT. Spectator tickets are available for £3 GBP, the All-Access pass allowing you to compete costs £17.

For further details on the event head to the official Eventbrite page, and keep reading VRFocus as further updates are announced.

BAAEX – Buenos Aires Art Experience

Del 12 al 15 de abril del 2019 se llevó a cabo en el Hipódromo de Palermo el primer festival de arte contemporáneo Buenos Aires Art Experience (BAAEX), en el que se presentarán obras de más de 150 artistas multidisciplinarios. Los organizadores del evento aprovecharon el gran impulso cultural que se lleva adelante anualmente en la ciudad de Buenos Aires en la Semana del Arte. BAAEX se realizó en paralelo con las ferias arteBA y MAPA como una tercera alternativa para que el público ya presente en la ciudad pueda conocer más arte argentino. La entrada fue libre y gratuita para toda la familia. 

La artista Josie Watson participó en los exteriores del predio con sus pinturas (originales y copias) inspiradas en la ciudad de Buenos Aires, presentando por segunda vez el flamante proyecto WatsOnArt, de su autoría y dirección. Se trata de una propuesta tradicional y digital con la que las pinturas, que expresan lugares y costumbres de la ciudad, se pueden ver de manera animada por medio de los celulares de los visitantes. Logrando un interesante número de ventas y con Mercadopago como facilitador para la compra inmediata, WatsOnArt disfrutó en BAAEX de un público muy interesado. La afluente venta de reproducciones a precio accesible permitió la difusión del arte de una manera innovadora e inteligente, concretando también la venta de originales a coleccionistas que visitaron el predio.

 

El director artístico del festival, el artista plástico y diseñador Filio Acosta del Río propuso BAAEX como una experiencia integradora de pintura, escultura, dibujo, arte callejero, fotografía, body-painting, arte infantil, danza contemporánea, desfile de moda, performances y arte interactivo. Orientado al público en generalcomo también para coleccionistas y entendidos en arte. 

Un porcentaje de las ventas de obras fue destinado a la Fundación Aliento de Vida Animal, que tiene por objetivo principal rescatar animales maltratados. WatsOnArt participó con la causa con sus ventsa y espera seguir apoyando a BAAEX en sus siguientes ediciones. 

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