Slavery Trails are site-specific AR Sculpture exhibits created by Artist Marcus Brown to virtually mark areas where enslaved people were held, sold, and worked in the United States. 

The interactive Augmented Reality (AR) sculpture series present figures representing enslaved peoples during the chattel slavery period in the United States. Brown's project begins with the placement of virtual sculptures only visible by smartphone or smart devices. The first sculptures in this series depict the artist Marcus Brown as an enslaved person standing on the neutral ground or street median located on the corner of Chartres Street and Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans. This is the same median where Solomon Northup was sold as a slave over 180 years ago. Each of Brown’s self-portrait sculptures will be presented and digitally sold from his website for the modern-day price of a domestic slave from the 1840s. Brown’s goal is to use the proceeds from each sculpture sold to fund a national project that creates more markers around the country.   

 Thank you from the artist! Thank you to everyone who made the June 20th 2022 sculpture unveiling possible.  Special thanks to WWNO University of New Orleans 89.9FM, Marigny Opera House, Laura Sirkin-Brown, Mona Duffel Jones, Dr. Marcus Rediker,  Dr. Marek Batorski, Andrew Bertholf, Ryan Groendyk , Glenn S. Gordinier, RJ Lavallee, Doug McCash/Nola.com , Discovering Amistad, Mystic Seaport Muesum, Daniel W. McElmurray / Parks and parkways department of New Orleans and many others for your support!

For more information visit: AR Slavery Trails  

The artwork titled Passage or Middle Passage is an installation based on a slave ship meant to educate the public about the Middle Passage and the treatment of enslaved African captives. The main sculptural object is a ship sculpture filled with sculptures that represent the enslaved. These pieces along with the ship will have interactive elements both physically and through AR and other virtual technologies. Passage's location along the Mississippi river will be geotagged on the port of New Orleans. Almost, 18 years ago I developed a sound painting process called Electro-Sonic Painting that allows an artist to paint musically using specialized interactive music-producing tools. Passage will allow the public to use some of my interactive music-producing tools and AR to experience a story about slavery and the Middle Passage through the lens of color and music.  The slave ship can be described as the world’s most powerful tool in shaping the developed world. Art and music played powerful roles in ensuring the survival of many slaves on the Atlantic voyage both for the captive and the captor.  It became critical to maintain the health of the slave cargo for weeks or months. Captains would promote African music and dancing for exercise on the decks of slave ships. But the slave ship captains could not control the soundscape. The enslaved often created their own sounds of rebellion, communication and prayer. Often slaves did not speak the same language. Drum rhythms and other forms of communication helped these captives survive. Throughout the voyage, the enslaved developed new ways to communicate aboard the ships. Passage allows the public to experience a slave ship from the slave’s perspective through a unique interactive experience.  

Marcus Brown 2282022

Slavery Trails is a musically interactive augmented reality (AR) installation series by Marcus Brown based on slave ships and enslaved people, placed on historical sites throughout the United States.

The artwork titled PassagePassage: Transatlantic Slave Trade exhibit is a geotagged musically interactive augmented reality (AR) sculpture installation series based on slave ships and enslaved peoples. The title Passage or Middle Passage refers to the section of the historical triangular trade route between Europe, Africa and the Americas. It allowed for the forced transport of African slaves from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Most of the African slaves brought to the Americas at that time were transported through this route on ships in extremely dehumanizing conditions. One of the main ports used for slave trade was in New Orleans. Brown designed the series to educate the public about the Middle Passage and the treatment of the enslaved. Music and singing was one element which could not be controlled by the captors. The artwork focuses on taking the public through the tightly packed slave deck areas using Augmented reality (AR) as well as his own custom proximity based musical interactive technology to tell a story of the Middle Passage.  The Passage series also connects the stories of enslaved people. Brown creates musically interactive AR sculptures that portray enslaved people in locations throughout New Orleans. The series can be experienced using smartphones and physical interactive multimedia elements. Collectively, these artworks create a musically interactive mixed reality sculpture trail throughout New Orleans. Brown’s goal is to develop these works into a national project marking the sites of enslaved people throughout the United States in an effort to educate the public on Chattel Slavery. 

Passage to muzycznie interaktywny szlak rzeźb w rzeczywistości mieszanej oparty na statkach niewolników i zniewolonych ludziach. 

Dzieło zatytułowane Passage or Middle Passage to geograficznie interaktywna muzycznie interaktywna seria instalacji rzeźbiarskich w rozszerzonej rzeczywistości (AR) oparta na statkach niewolników i zniewolonych ludach. Tytułowe przejście lub przejście środkowe nawiązuje do odcinka historycznego trójkątnego szlaku handlowego między Europą, Afryką i Ameryką. Pozwalał na przymusowy transport afrykańskich niewolników od XVI do XIX wieku. Większość afrykańskich niewolników sprowadzonych wówczas do Ameryk była transportowana tą drogą na statkach w skrajnie odczłowieczających warunkach. Jednym z głównych portów wykorzystywanych do handlu niewolnikami był Nowy Orlean. Brown zaprojektował serię, aby edukować opinię publiczną o Przejściu Środkowym i traktowaniu zniewolonych. Muzyka i śpiew były jednym z elementów, nad którymi porywacze nie mogli zapanować. Dzieło sztuki skupia się na prowadzeniu publiczności przez ciasno upakowane obszary pokładów niewolników przy użyciu rozszerzonej rzeczywistości (AR), a także własnej, niestandardowej, interaktywnej technologii muzycznej opartej na bliskości, aby opowiedzieć historię środkowego przejścia. Seria Passage łączy także historie ludzi zniewolonych. Brown tworzy muzycznie interaktywne rzeźby AR, które przedstawiają zniewolonych ludzi w miejscach w całym Nowym Orleanie. Serial można oglądać za pomocą smartfonów i fizycznych interaktywnych elementów multimedialnych. Łącznie te dzieła sztuki tworzą muzycznie interaktywny szlak rzeźb w rzeczywistości mieszanej w całym Nowym Orleanie. Celem Browna jest rozwinięcie tych prac w ogólnokrajowy projekt oznaczający miejsca zniewolonych ludzi w całych Stanach Zjednoczonych, mający na celu edukowanie społeczeństwa na temat Chattel Slavery.