Digital innovation studio yU+co and the Getty Research Institute have joined forces in a digital initiative that celebrates the 100th anniversary of The Bauhaus. Through an online exhibit that accompanies a physical exhibition at the Getty Center, Bauhaus: Building the New Artist explores the Bauhaus vision in new ways, allowing users to actively engage with the techniques of the masters and to test their theories with three interactive exercises. Founded by Modernist architect Walter Gropius in 1919, the Bauhaus represented a new model of education that would unite the divisions between the fine and the applied arts. The goal was for various forms of artistic practice — painting, sculpture, architecture and design to work in harmony to produce the socially-oriented and spiritually gratifying “building of the future.”
yU+co’s ability to incorporate multiple creative disciplines is on full display with this assignment. The online exhibit was led by Robert Checchi, yU+co’s Director of Museum and Special Projects, who joined the company last year following 12 years as the J Paul Getty Museum’s Senior Exhibition Designer. Says Checchi: “This project incorporates all of yU+co’s wide range of skillsets — design, 3D, modeling, animation, web design, production, video, editing, etc. Much like the Bauhaus school’s objectives for all artistic disciplines to work in harmony. All of our skillsets came together on this one project.”
For Garson Yu, Founder/Creative Director, the project for The Getty Research Institute reflects the growing need for cultural institutions to engage with the audience beyond actual walls and into the digital world. “This collaboration represents an exciting new direction for yU+co, and we feel especially privileged to have played a part in helping the Getty Research Institute bring it to life. The desire of museums and cultural institutions to engage the public in new ways is the perfect opportunity to combine new technologies with our experience in storytelling in order to create something groundbreaking and enriching.”
The online exhibition was conceived in tandem with the gallery exhibition Bauhaus Beginnings, on view at the Getty Center until October 13.
