In recent months, viewing art outdoors became a welcome, and necessary solution to the enforced suspension of in-gallery events. But in December, Acute Art took this one step further, with an exhibition formula that required no gallery, and no physical art. It launched its ‘Unreal City’ outdoor AR exhibition in December, and now, in response to tightened coronavirus restrictions across the UK, has made the show available from inside your home.
The original concept was arranged as a walking tour. Aptly titled, ‘Unreal City,’ it was sited across 24 locations between Waterloo Bridge and Millenium Bridge on London’s Southbank. The exhibition – now available to view in any conceivable location – features work by Olafur Eliasson, Cao Fei, Alicja Kwade, Koo Jeong A, Marco Brambilla, and new pieces by the likes of Tomás Saraceno, KAWS, Bjarne Melgaard and Darren Bader.
Users can now transform their homes, or gardens into one big AR exhibition, available to experience until 9 February 2021. As Daniel Birnbaum, artistic director of Acute Art and curator of ‘Unreal City’ said, ‘You can have Nina Chanel Abney’s Imaginary Friend in your sitting room, Bjarne Melgaard’s Devil Man in your kitchen or TAKE by KAWS floating in your bedroom. The world can come to a halt but art doesn’t stand still.’
Olafur Eliasson, Caring Northern Light and Lucky Stone. Augmented reality.
Alicja Kwade’s, All at Any Time can hover ominously above your kitchen counter. Elsewhere, in another surreal twist, Olafur Eliasson’s Courageous Flowers sees green foliage sprout from the concrete slabs of the Thames Path, or your living room carpet.
‘In recent years works that involve virtual elements have regularly been included in biennials and museum exhibitions, but usually in ways that obey traditional institutional structures’, Daniel Birnbaum, artistic director at Acute Art and curator of Unreal City explained. ‘Could one instead imagine immersive experiences distributed across geographies in novel ways, connecting locals perceptual nodes in ways that create entirely new exhibition formats? I believe the answer is yes. We will use these technologies to change the structure of the art world and make possible new forms of global exchange for a future in which we will be less keen to jump on a plane.’
Olafur Eliasson, Courageous Flowers. Augmented reality.
The large-scale group exhibition seeks to ‘democratise’ art, and take it to locations that would prove physically impossible in the real world, all through the lens of AR. Viewers need only download the Acute Art app, point their phone in the direction of their chosen backdrop, and watch each artwork curiously appear. The project, a collaboration between Acute Art and Dazed Media, is slated as ‘London’s biggest public festival of AR art’, and now one for the global community to enjoy.
As Jacob De Geer, CEO of Acute Art added at the time of the original launch, ‘In these complicated times our aspiration has gained new relevance and urgency. We are happy that all the artists are joining us in the project. Institutions are closed but art should not be cancelled!’
Alicja Kwade, All At Any Time (AR). Augmented reality.
KAWS, Holiday Space. Augmented reality.
Nina Chanel Abney, Imaginary Friend; Olafur Eliasson, Solar Friend. Augmented reality.
Koo Jeong A, One Should Stay Away From Anything Worldly. Augmented reality.
Olafur Eliasson, Marvelous Rainbow. Augmented reality.
INFORMATION
‘Unreal City’, available via the Acute Art app until 9 February 2021. acuteart.com
-
The new Google Pixel 9a is a competent companion on the pathway to the world of AIGoogle’s reputation for effective and efficient hardware is bolstered by the introduction of the new Pixel 9a, a mid-tier smartphone designed to endure
-
In Milan, MoscaPartners presents a poetic exploration of ‘migration’Alongside immersive work by Byoung Cho, MoscaPartners’ Milan Design Week 2025 display features an accessible exhibition path designed for visually impaired visitors
-
The making of PAN and Nike’s euphoric, club-inspired collaboration at Milan Design WeekAlongside a new Air Max 180 release, ‘The Suspended Hour’ display sees Berlin record label PAN imagine the unfolding of a club night, from dusk until dawn
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experienceIn ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate BritainIn his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desireIn a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlightFor more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
-
From counter-culture to Northern Soul, these photos chart an intimate history of working-class Britain‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’ is at Edinburgh gallery Stills
-
Celia Paul's colony of ghostly apparitions haunts Victoria MiroEerie and elegiac new London exhibition ‘Celia Paul: Colony of Ghosts’ is on show at Victoria Miro until 17 April
-
Teresa Pągowska's dreamy interpretations of the female form are in London for the first time‘Shadow Self’ in Thaddaeus Ropac’s 18th-century townhouse gallery in London, presents the first UK solo exhibition of Pągowska’s work
