Photo Source; Babushahi Bureau
Hops N Grains unveils Tricity's first-ever Augmented Reality powered artwork
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, March 16, 2024: In a groundbreaking fusion of art and technology, Amritanshu Agrawal and Priyanka Gupta, founders of the multiple award-winning microbrewery, Hops n Grains, Panchkula, in collaboration with established visual and spoken word artist, curator and artpreneur Angad B Sodhi, unveiled Tricity’s first ever Augmented Reality (AR) powered artwork, promising an unparalleled immersive experience.
This pioneering endeavor marks a significant milestone in the city’s cultural landscape, ushering in a new era of artistic expression.
Through the lens of AR, viewers will be transported into a realm where imagination knows no bounds as digital elements seamlessly intertwine with the physical world, blurring lines between reality and fantasy.
“We had been searching for ideas for this space at our microbrewery, to bring a dimension of art to it, something out of the box, arresting and at the same time an engaging piece that would spark a conversation and have a longevity to it. Angad’s vision was in sync with ours,” say Priyanka and Amritanshu. In their passionate endeavor to stay ahead of the curve - they are the first to open a microbrewery and a European inspired bean to bar cafe, Mozimo, the first to set the trend of craft beer and authentic gourmet chocolate in the Tricity - Priyanka and Amritanshu are all set to creativity charge the artspace with Angad’s AR artwork.
Brimming with ideas, Angad feels art as a medium is changing in how we experience it. “Nowadays, we experience art on screen more than anything else, and this allows us the space to create more tangible stories. My aim is to create stories you can feel, be part of your communication and give you direct tangible benefits,” he says.
DECODING THE CONCEPT: THE STORY BEHIND THE ARTWORK
“Speaking from our perspective, as a legacy brand, the artwork not only had to communicate the core and story of our microbrewery, it had to play an instrumental role in brand building and community mobilisation. As first movers in our industry, and also as art lovers, our endeavour has always been to give this city something exclusive, impactful, and trendsetting. So when Angad shared his concept of this beautiful convergence of art and technology, we knew this was it. It was transformative, it has the power to scale and transcend through physical boundaries into a space where this piece of art acts as a narrator, a storyteller and connector,” says Priyanka.
For Angad, the process was instant and organic. A food writer in the past, he had a fair idea of what goes into a beer.
“Beer is made up of two important ingredients, hops and grains/barley and the third is water. Classical Greek writers credit Egyptians having invented beer, and that’s how we developed these interesting characters around the ingredients, and added Egyptian hieroglyphs, rendering a feeling of being inside a pharaoh's tomb with references to Egyptian god and goddess of beer Osiris and Nephthys,” says Angad.
The artwork has been created and painted on 8 by 8 feet wooden boards. The AR effect is activated by scanning the image, just like a QR code.
The AR brings to life fun and quirky characters of happy ‘Hoppy’ and his friends who live in the world of beer, floating on the river Nile, emerging from ancient Egypt to where we are today.
THE VISION
Putting a spotlight on this art is about changing the perspective of people and investing in a long term strategy of telling the right story through it. Businesses can seriously grow their value by leveraging through the right kind of art, feels Priyanka.
A transformative artwork, “with AR, one can create a whole new dimension/layer on top of any physical work introducing you to virtual reality and total immersion in the metaverse.
This is the future, a life in the metaverse with invisible buttons and virtual reality glasses for access. At the moment, smartphones and user-friendly smart apps like Instagram or sparkAR act as a bridge to this experience by integrating their camera with your phone camera to scan and read it as a QR code,” explains Angad, who is also a strong advocate of the ‘Support the Living Artists’ movement.
“With AR at its heart, it’s an exciting incorporation of art and tech. So drop by, click, scan and get ready to be surprised,” adds Priyanka.
About the Founders of Hops n Grains Microbrewery Priyanka Gupta and Amritanshu Agrawal
Serial entrepreneurs with an insatiable zest for life and passion for bringing the best of experiences in the F&B world to the city, husband-wife duo, Amritanshu Agrawal and Dr Priyanka Gupta stepped out of their comfort zones when they pooled in their resources, took loans, scouted the length and breadth of the country, indulged in deep research, learnt the ropes from the masters, and brought home Tricity’s first microbrewery, Hops n Grains, in Panchkula in 2010.
Inspired by the European culture of craft beer, good food and good times, the trendsetting Hops n Grains has been running strong for 14 years now, has won multiple awards including the Times Food Awards, Best Trendsetter Microbrewery, North India and Best Brewmaster North at Brewer’s World Awards, and is proudly second oldest running microbrewery in India!
Motivated by the success of Hops n Grains, Priyanka and Amritanshu strengthened their presence and brand by opening another award winning microbrewery, The Great Bear and Kitchen in Chandigarh followed by Hops n Grains in Mohali. In 2023, they opened North India’s first European inspired authentic bean to bar chocolate cafe in Chandigarh, Mozimo.
An MBA, Amritanshu is the brains behind the operations, finance and administration aspects of the business, while Priyanka, is a doctor born with business acumen. She is the heart and soul of the project, managing the human resource including her two daughters and medical practice. Together they are high risk takers, zythophiles and consummate travellers with a never say die attitude.
About Angad B Sodhi
Angad B Sodhi is a visual & spoken word artist, curator and artpreneur of Indian origin, who works at the intersection of art and technology.
He is an active advocate for artist empowerment and a proponent of the decentralised creator economy as a vehicle to do so. For this purpose, he also serves on several committees that advise and work with different ministries in the central government on ways that web3 technology can empower Indian artists and craftspeople.
Sodhi is the co-founder of Colours of India, an artist/creator driven community and has worked with multiple brands including: Social Offline, Johnnie Walker, Coca Cola, Ariel etc.
Sodhi consults, curates and art directs for multiple brands looking to bridge the web2/web3 gap and leverage the confluence of art, technology and storytelling made possible through web3 technology, augmented, mixed and virtual reality and other NFTs.