At Harajuku Station, amid the sea of street-style aficionados and busy commuters, one tall figure stands apart. Artist Adrian Steckeweh exudes warmth and grace, enveloped in a sculptural, otherworldly-looking pink jacket of his own design, accessorized with self-3D-printed jewelry, including a centipede bracelet. As we walk down Omotesando, passersby take notice.
Originally from Germany, Steckeweh, 37, moved to Tokyo 10 years ago where he works as an architect. His best-known work, however, exists beyond the physical, in CGI and XR art (extended reality, which includes AR, VR and spatial computing). Under his alias “Omega C,” he has amassed over 60,000 followers on Instagram over the past decade, with augmented reality (AR) filters that allow users to break through digital thresholds. “Omega C,” short for “Omega Centauri,” takes inspiration from the alpha and omega on church candles and the Alpha Centauri star system. “I like seeing things in their entire scale from beginning to end. The end, the omega, is the best part,” he says and adds that Omega C also used to be his drag name.
For nearly a decade, Steckeweh was one of the most prolific creators in the Meta Spark Partner Network, where artists pioneered the use of AR in social media, made with software that was easy to use.