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Adrian Jones

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This June marks a year since the beta release of Looking Glass. It all started with a vision of a lens that could unearth buried stories and slowly but surely, it’s growing into much more.

To kick off a new year of preservation and storytelling work, I wanted to share this video that captures the mission. Here’s to tapping into the power of remembering and imagining.

🎥 Jeremiah Strawbridge
🎧 “Displacement” by @frominezwithlove from the Looking Glass Soundscape taken in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by @ajarian

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a year ago

Last month, I had the great pleasure of moderating a conversation with Justin Strong and Chris Ivey for the event Reclaiming East Liberty’s Black Legacy.

Developers have continued to reengineer neighborhoods like East Liberty to irrevocably alter their identities, so I was especially keen to hear the panelists reflect on the significance of Black spaces and the role of community in these battles.

As the mic moved across the room, we heard more beautiful memories of East Liberty’s past, right alongside real frustration and pain.

There is no magic wand to stop displacement, but the space that we co-created only reaffirms my belief that our care for each other is a fundamental part of the solution.

———

Gratitude to @marymartin_art for all her organizing effort, Bekezela Mguni for bringing @blackunicornlibraryproject to Winchester, Terri Baltimore who graciously agreed to join but was unable to make our panel, and @maranierae for documenting the evening. by @ajarian

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4 months ago

It’s been an active year for Looking Glass. I’ve presented elements from the archive at two arts festivals, facilitated two student workshops, led four neighborhood tours and gave seven talks.

Events are only one slice of the picture but they’re a valuable signal. They demonstrate that there’s an appetite for the kinds of overlooked stories that Looking Glass celebrates and this idea of remembering and imagining continues to resonate with folks. I’m more sure than ever that real magic happens when we connect people to place through stories.

1 - Neighborhood tour w/ CMU students @justinmerriman
2 - Remembering & Imagining talk at the Silver Eye Center for Photography @hsuleol
3 - Looking Glass installation at DEMO2025 Festival @itiscarlitos
4,5 - Students using the Looking Glass app @justinmerriman by @ajarian

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7 months ago

🤳 In Professor Britt Ransom’s (@brittransom_studio) course “Personal Narratives in Practice and Place,” students joined artist and technologist Adrian Jones (@ajarian) for a walking tour of the East Liberty neighborhood.

Guided by his “Looking Glass” app, an augmented reality archive celebrating the legacy of Black life in Pittsburgh, students explored histories of key sites of activism and community gathering from the 1960s to today. As they neared each marked location, archival photos, 3D renderings, and narratives of the communities that thrived there appeared on their screens.

The experience offered a new lens on the city, showing how research, technology, and storytelling can shape more context-driven art.

👉 Full story at art.cmu.edu
📸 @justinmerriman
👏 This class tour was supported by the @studioforcreativeinquiry Sylvia and David Steiner Invitation Grant by @ajarian

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10 months ago

So much of what I’m doing right now has roots in this first clipping. In my freshman year of high school, I joined the robotics team founded by my physics teacher, Robert Steps. Without his care, generosity and dedication, my life would be very different.

Since his passing in May, I’ve been reflecting on the fullness of his impact. Mr. Steps opened up the world of engineering to me and so many others. On the third floor of SciTech, he created a space where curiosity, experimentation and play reigned.

For four years, I followed a brilliant and humble leader who deepened my love for the journey of invention. We didn’t always win in competition, but each year we proved to ourselves that effort and study could break down any problem.

Mr. Steps was not just an instructor to me, he was my teacher in the deepest sense of the word. by @ajarian

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a year ago

Past and present meet at the corner of Frankstown & Enterprise.

Each augmented reality experience within Looking Glass is site-specific. When you travel to a marked site, the app enables you to open a window in time. For my DEMO2025 installation which celebrates Pittsburgh's Black musicians and the former union, Local 471, I wanted to represent one of the ways we're applying AR.

Nothing is every truly gone. It's possible to unearth and connect with what's just under the surface.

3D capture of Frankstown Ave and Enterprise St: @ajarian
3D model of Local 471: @drummondprojects @xevi.0so
Animation: @xevi.0so
Music: "Organizing" by @pvkvsv from the Looking Glass Soundscape by @ajarian

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a year ago

Looking Glass is in NYC!

For @newinc's DEMO2025, I created an installation that pulls video, audio and animated elements from my app Looking Glass (@lookingglass.ar). This window into Pittsburgh celebrates the city's homegrown Black music and the labor organizing that supported this ecosystem.

This installation also marks the debut of the Looking Glass Soundscape ahead of its in-app launch. Six instrumental tracks by @frominezwithlove, @iammattmaxx and @pvkvsv collectively trace an arc inspired by the experiences of East Liberty's Black residents.

Big thanks to my other amazing collaborators who made this possible:
Jeremiah Strawbridge
@drummondprojects
@xevi.0so
@whiteleafmusic taken in WSA NYC by @ajarian

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a year ago

Join us for a talk by artist, creative technologist, and archivist Adrian Jones on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 6:30pm. @ajarian will discuss his work blending augmented reality (AR) with historical archives to connect the past, present, and imagined futures.

Jones' practice is shaped by a commitment to those living in society’s margins. Utilizing his formal background in electrical engineering and software development, Jones' creative work explores the power of speculative imagination and intergenerational storytelling within digital spaces.

In 2021, Jones began developing Looking Glass, an app-based archive of Black life in Pittsburgh, which uses augmented reality to connect the present to both the past and imagined futures. Looking Glass is built on the belief that the practices of remembering and imagining have the power to transform.

RSVP for the talk at the link in bio!

Image credit: Adrian Jones, Charles "Teenie" Harris / Carnegie Museum of Art taken in Silver Eye Center for Photography by @ajarian

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a year ago

Lots of gratitude for the brilliant @mstarafay. In the latest issue of the Pittsburgh City Paper, she created space for me to share my perspective on the potential of community-centered technologies like Looking Glass. by @ajarian

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a year ago

Earlier this fall, I met up with Susan Scott Peterson of @905wesa to take a walk through East Liberty. Using the Looking Glass app as our guide, we visited two significant sites of activism for which there are no plaques or historic designations.

I built Looking Glass hoping it would inspire folks to explore Pittsburgh. Travel is such a powerful aid to the act of remembering. When I consider stories like those of Penn Plaza Support and Action or the Pittsburgh Friends of COFO, I feel connected to the strength and brilliance of my people, which persists through every manner of opposition.

+the full story and audio from our walk is at wesa.fm! by @ajarian

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2 years ago

It’s my birthday today and I love getting older. Time is a gift. And at this point in time, I’ve figured out my bag and I’m not coming out of it. More storytelling, artmaking, research, coding, and community building coming next year.

📸 @karlieraephotography
🪞@photo_by_kitoko w/ the Looking Glass launch event photo by @ajarian

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2 years ago

Holiday card, but make it Jonesy.✨

📸: @karlieraephotography taken in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by @ajarian

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3 years ago