As if the new AKG Art Museum could get any better, the surprises keep coming and coming. It’s latest anticipated release is the launch of AKGo!, a new audio experience created in partnership with Art Processors, a leader in interactive media and exhibition design.
AKGo! provides visitors to the art museum with with access to six thematic audio journeys and one immersive experiential journey. Voices on these audio immersions include Peggy Pierce Elfvin, Director Janne Sirén, Charles Balbach, Chief Curator Cathleen Chaffee, as well as diverse community of voices that includes artists, a football hero, a comedian, and an animal rescue expert. The voice of Architect Shohei Shigematsu is yet another engaging audio experience to engage.
Now, an excursion to the AKG provides people with further direction, inclusive education, and intimate views of the new gallery that will open people’s eyes (and ears) in ways that they never imagined. The AKGo! app ensures that everyone has the proper audio guide, which means that each individual guest is provided with an expertly curated experience. The app’s variety of options ensures that everyone is perfectly suited for an audio journey, including adults with children, educators, excursionists and tourists, art experts, individuals new to art and art history, researchers, and experience seekers.
“AKGo! tells stories that could only be told in Buffalo,” said Christine Murray, Content Director at Art Processors. “Our approach from the beginning was to tie everything back to the community: the voices we’ve included, the connections we’ve highlighted, and the journeys we’ve devised. And because the app knows where you are, you’re free to explore your own way. Whether you are inside a gallery or out in the Town Square, the stories surface based on what’s nearby. That’s a really magical experience.”
“The emotion that you hear in the speakers’ voices is totally organic and real, recorded in the moment,” said Jenny Pachucki, Senior Content Developer at Art Processors. “If you’re hoping for visitors to have authentic emotional encounters in a museum space, you have to approach content creation with an open hand and an open heart to generate that.”
“As the museum seeks to attract and inspire a broader audience, the audio experiences within AKGo! are a wonderful starting point for many visitors,” said Brittany Strupp, Manager of Interpretation & Docents at the Buffalo AKG. “AKGo! is an immersive experience designed to reward curiosity and in-the-moment discovery. Whether you are a longtime museum supporter, a first-time visitor, a sports fan, an architecture enthusiast, a child or just young at heart, AKGo! welcomes you into the collection with a variety of thematic, self-guided journeys.”
The AKGo! journeys are:
• Now Hear Me Out . . .
Assistant Curator Andrea Alvarez and local teacher and comedian Kevin Thomas, Jr. playfully discuss contemporary art and what they see, what they think they see, and what it all means.
• Glass Steel Stone: The Building
Shohei Shigematsu of OMA New York shares the vision that inspired the Buffalo AKG campus.
• Victory & Defeat
Legendary Buffalo Bills running back Thurman Thomas and artist Patti Thomas (“The Ghost”) connect the trials and triumphs of artists in the Buffalo AKG’s collection with the ups and downs of the athletic world.
• Journey Through Modern Art
Beginning with the realism of Gustave Courbet and concluding with the Pop art of Andy Warhol, this journey sheds new light on old favorites by tracking the development of modern art in the Western world through thirteen works located throughout the Wilmers Building.
• Spotlights
Hear the stories and perspectives behind the artworks from the artists themselves, museum staff, and special guests.
• ARTimals
Learn about the animals in the Buffalo AKG’s collection as curators speak with an animal rescue expert on this playful journey designed for the museum’s youngest audiences, their caregivers, and the young at heart.
• Stop Look Listen: A Guided Soundscape
This journey offers opportunities for reflection and decompression in the museum with guided close looking by artist Julia Bottoms, accompanied by an original musical soundscape composed by Art Processors.
AKGo! is accessed via an app compatible with iPhone and Android mobile devices. (The app will be available for Android devices later this month.) For the best experience, the museum recommends downloading the AKGo! app from the App Store or Google Play Store. Select from several journeys, each with a unique theme and narrator, based on your interests. When using the app, journeys and content will automatically surface based on your location, so guests are always learning and discovering new favorites. Use the “nearby” button in the app to find out what’s near you.
The museum asks that visitors use headphones when using the app in the galleries. Headphones are available for purchase at the Shop or Visitor Services Desks. If you prefer not to download the app, journeys may also be accessed via QR codes located throughout the museum near the artwork labels. To access content via QR code, use your phone’s camera or QR scanner.
