So far, so normal. The techie stuff comes in two elements. By downloading an app called Acute Art and holding their phone in front of them, visitors can see a host of extra works on their camera screen: digital works which, by augmented reality (AR), appear to be part of the show.
Second of all, the entire exhibition is, for the length of its run, being replicated within the world of the popular online game, Fortnite. (Using an avatar, players are able to enter and look around the show in a digitally recreated Serpentine North gallery.)
Both elements are abject failures. Let’s deal with each one in turn. On the day I visited, total strangers could be heard asking each other “Have you got the app working?” Frequent answer: no. And even when the app did work, the AR pieces were hardly thrilling: they look little different from the physical ones. We’ve spent the best part of two years glued to our screens – who, when privileged enough to be in an art gallery, wants more?
As for the Fortnite collaboration, on the face of it, this may make sense: to give both artist and gallery greater exposure. The footfall for the average exhibition at this venue is 35,000, while the number of registered Fortnite accounts worldwide is 400 million.
However, it’s hard to see any player having a meaningful experience in the would-be exhibition. This is still, very obviously, an artificial environment, where the art works look like unconvincing imitations of KAWS’s originals. The “gallery” thus becomes a digital hang-out zone rather than a place to engage with art in any decent way.
How best to sum up the whole enterprise? Let’s call it a lost KAWS.
Until Feb 27. Tickets: 020 7402 6075; serpentinegalleries.org