Martina Menegon's AR Filter 'familiar strangers – expanded' Explores Digital Identity

Artist Martina Menegon discusses her augmented reality filter 'familiar strangers – expanded', a new iteration of her 2018 facial filter. The filter uses face tracking to overlay a 3D scan of the artist's face onto the user's, reflecting on avatar as mask and multiple identities in the digital realm. The new version adds a cloud of clones surrounding the user, inspired by a Mozilla Hubs virtual space created during the 2020 lockdown. Menegon rarely produces AR due to accessibility issues but has recently experimented with webAR, presenting virtual sculptures at the online exhibition 'Subterranean Virtualscapes' curated by Virginia Bianchi Gallery, which also featured NFTs on Hic et Nunc. She follows AR artists like Ines Alpha, Cibelle Cavalli Bastos, Mitsuko Kubota, KEIKEN, Huntrezz Janos, and Noland Chaliha. Menegon believes physical and virtual realities are interdependent and advocates for an ethical, inclusive online world. She notes the contemporary art world's growing interest in virtual art but criticizes the lack of understanding and respect for its history. Currently, she co-curates the second edition of the CIVA Festival of Multimedia Arts in Vienna (February 2022) and plans hybrid exhibitions, 3D prints, and VR projects. Menegon is an artist and teacher at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and IUAV University of Venice.