Leon Keer and Massina Spelbos add a few finishing touches to “Nature’s algorithm.” Viewers can see the images of Iowa nature come to life through an augmented reality app. (Photo: Brittany Brooke Crow)
By Brittany Brooke Crow
Over the past few weeks, people who’ve passed by the parking garage at 901 Grand Ave. have seen the creation of one of the largest murals in the city. It’s also one of the largest murals the artist has created to date.
“Nature’s algorithm,” an 8,000-square-foot work by Dutch artist Leon Keer, depicts a room crowded with 15 vintage televisions, each showing a slice of Iowa’s flora, and fauna. For inspiration, Keer set out to answer the question “What is there in Iowa to see in nature?” with images from the city of Des Moines, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Madison County Tourism, Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge, and Pella Historical Museums and Tulip Time.
“I’m not afraid that people see my work in process,” Keer said. “I always like to share my techniques.”
The design uses anamorphic perspective, where images appear distorted until they’re viewed from a specific angle. From Keer’s chosen viewpoint, at the intersection of 10th Street and Grand Avenue, the lines of the parking garage align precisely with those painted on the mural.
“So if you’re standing at that viewpoint, is that correct? Is (the mural) really going inside the building?” Keer said. “Yeah, that’s always fun.”
Viewers can enhance their perspective even further with augmented reality (AR) available for free through the “DSM Public Art” app developed by Elsewise LLC for the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, with input from Keer’s team. (Android users can access the same effect through Keer’s own app, “Leon Keer.”)
The AR feature animates the images on the wall. App users will notice the television screens come to life: the bison roams, the eagle soars, the elk meander through the prairie. As viewers move toward the left side of the mural, the AR animation reveals a lush aerial image on the top-right television, which is hidden in the actual painting.
“When we thought of ways of incorporating technology, Leon’s work was right at the forefront of my mind,” foundation director Alexa McCarthy said. “It’s the first in what we hope will be a series of murals that are part of an AR strategy for the city of Des Moines.”
McCarthy, who holds a doctorate in art history, noted that Keer’s anamorphic artwork continues a Dutch tradition that goes back centuries. She mentioned as an example Hans Holbein the Younger’s 1533 painting “The Ambassadors,” which includes a skull that viewers can see clearly only if they stand to the painting’s side, close to the wall.
“I mean, (Leon) takes it to a whole other level, but that is very deeply embedded in Dutch culture,” McCarthy said.
The foundation commissioned the mural in partnership with Principal Financial Group, which will own and maintain it for at least six years.
“Des Moines really has a strong appreciation and love for the arts,” McCarthy said. “To bring an artist like Leon here to create opportunities that will enrich the region, it really takes a partner like Principal to make that happen.”
It also takes a significant commitment from the artist himself. Because of the mural’s size Keer and his assistant, Massina Spelbos, began each day at sunrise. “Your whole body has to be in there if you want to do these kinds of murals,” Keer said.
The artist is based in the Netherlands with a studio in Utrecht and a second studio in Mombercelli, Italy. He’s one of the world’s leading anamorphic street artists and has created artwork around the world, including the United States, Mexico, Russia, Australia and New Zealand.
With all of his work, he designs the images around greater concepts from everyday life.
“Most influence comes from the people I meet,” he said. “When I’m sitting in a bar next to somebody, he tells me a story about his life, and it brings up some inspiration for my paintings.”
Brittany Brooke Crow is a freelance writer, photographer, visual artist and Iowa Arts Council Artist Fellow.
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