Snapchat is bringing art to life via augmented reality and is taking you to Paris

Snapchat has been exploring augmented reality (AR) for a while now through its lenses and now has added a new one that brings art to life, and is kicking it off with a Parisian experience. As Snap narrates, “Sixty years ago, Christo and Jeanne-Claude dreamt the impossible: wrapping Paris’s monumental Arc de Triomphe. Now, when Christo’s six-decade-long odyssey is due to come to life, when Sotheby's exhibition of the extraordinary artworks he created in preparation for the wrapping launches in Paris - many art lovers around France and the world will not be able to travel and see it,”. But for these art lovers, Snapchat has a solution, albeit an AR one.

Christo wanted to democratise art and Snap wants to democratise AR. The two have come together to make some of their plans come to life for people around the world who are stuck at home due to the ongoing pandemic. In a partnership with Sotheby’s and Christo, Snap is bringing the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe to Sotheby’s visitors globally as well as to Snapchatters all over the world with augmented reality with “The Last Christo: Original Works for The Arc de Triomphe” global portal Lens. You can out how this Lens works by clicking here.

All you need to do is to scan the snapcode, that is also going to be located throughout the exhibition, and you will be transported straight to Place de Charles de Gaulle in Paris. Your smartphone will act like a window through which you can witness the wrapping of the Arc and learn all about Christo’s 60-year-long project.

You do not have to be at the exhibition to be able to experience the Lens, you can do it from anywhere in the world just by opening the Snapchat app. The new Lens will be available right on the main Camera screen. Access through the Snap Map is going to be added for this experienced early next week. Snapchatters can search for the Lens in Lens Explorer by typing “Christo,'' “Arc de Triomphe,” “Wrapped,” or “Sotheby’s”.

“By referencing a series of sketches and visuals, we used a gyroscope Lens feature and animation technology to build ‘The Last Christo: Original Works for The Arc de Triomphe’ global portal Lens. We were able to do so without actually seeing the final result,” Snap said.