The 2023 exhibition Of Spaces in Between used augmented reality to divide 24 pairs of artworks between galleries in Penang and Petaling Jaya.
Each artist created two related works. One appeared physically at Hin Bus Depot or ZHAN Art | Space, while its counterpart could be viewed digitally through the PERK Reality application.
Duality built into the exhibition’s structure
The two works in each pair were distinct but designed to complete a shared idea.
Sumidik’s The Heritage Pill placed a historic building inside a capsule above a For Sale sign. Its counterpart, The Garbage Patch, showed the same structure emerging from a water-filled carton, questioning whether heritage buildings should be preserved as sacred objects or allowed to change.
ERYN created two works from a single sheet of paper using one continuous line. Separating Longing from Regrets and Separating Regrets from Longing referred to pandemic separation and the video calls through which the artist maintained contact with her mother in France.
Technology connecting rather than replacing objects
Other participants included Aboud Fares, Christine Das, Esther Geh, Firdaus Baharudin, Haris Rashid, Hao Yuan Cheng, Madhvee Deb, Sharon Kow and White Bones.
The exhibition included painting, sculpture, installation and mixed media. Augmented reality did not replace the physical work; it allowed the absent partner to appear within the other gallery.
The project had originally been planned for 2022 but was delayed by pandemic restrictions.
Of Spaces in Between made geographical separation part of its curatorial argument. Visitors could see one object directly and the other through a screen, experiencing duality as an incomplete encounter that technology temporarily repaired.