Colfax Ave Artist Series

Live Slow, Die Old

As someone born & raised in Colorado, I was thrilled to be selected for the 2022 Colfax Avenue Artist Series. Inspired by the theme of “counterculture”, I created an art piece – and subsequent augmented reality experience – that rejected the “sleep when your dead” mentality.

Photo of the electrical box featuring Brennan Gilbert's 2022 artwork which is a turtle whose shell is designed to say "Slow and Steady"

In 2022, The Colfax Ave Business Improvement District sent out a call for artists to create art to display on electrical boxes all along East Colfax in Denver, CO.

The theme of the year was “counterculture”, and so, I immediately thought of the “rise & grind” mindset that’s become so pervasive over the last few years. Especially as artists, it can feel like if you’re not doing everything – making the art, doing the promos, networking, working your day job, freelancing, and learning Blender – you’ll be left behind…

So this is my reminder that it’s okay to slow down, take a second, and just appreciate the moment. A reminder that slow and steady wins, health is wealth, and may we all live slow, and die old. 🙏

Augmented Reality (AR)

The turtle is the "target image", an image that an app or digital experience looks for, and once found, can use to anchor AR experiences. Since the artwork was going to be up for one full year, this meant I could change out the AR experiences based on things like holidays.

At the time of writing this case study, I used the Augmented Reality app Artivive to trigger the experiences. If you find yourself on Colfax, download the Artivive app to see the latest experience.

Launch Website