Augmented reality art exhibition Seeing the Invisible has made its way to Gardens by the Bay, starting 12 October 2022. This will be the second season of the showcase of works by international artists which will take place at 10 gardens around the world. The first season took place in 2021.
Gardens by the Bay is the only gardens in Asia where season 2 of Seeing the Invisible will be held.
Seeing the Invisible at Gardens by the Bay
Seeing the Invisible at Gardens by the Bay features 12 augmented reality works by artists like Ai Weiwei, Refik Anadol, El Anatsui, Isaac Julien CBE RA, Mohammed Kazem, Sigalit Landau, Sarah Meyohas, Pamela Rosenkranz and Timur Si-Qin.
Visitors are able to view the artworks, and even interact with them in some cases, using a Seeing the Invisible app that can be downloaded for both Apple and Android.
The augmented reality exhibition has also been designed to allow for the works to fit into the natural landscape of the gardens. As they are augmented reality works, the artists were able to go beyond what is possible with physical artworks and also explore the interplay of the physical world with the digital one.
There will be no admission charge to the exhibition at Gardens by the Bay.
Augmented Reality Art: Nature, the Environment and Sustainability
Many of the works created for the exhibition address themes about nature, the environment and sustainability.
These include an adaptation of one of El Anatsui’s iconic recycled bottle-top installations into an augmented reality tapestry that shimmers gently as though moved by a soft wind, a new work by Sigalit Landau inspired by the natural formation of a salt stalagmite and a translation of Ai Weiwei’s Gilded Cage into augmented reality.
The augmented reality art trail starts off at the Golden Garden, at the main drop-off point. Head towards the bright yellow signboard and open up the app to get started. Once you are in the right vicinity of the digital art, you will be prompted by the app to establish the artwork and it will magically appear on the app screen.
There are two stops at the Golden Garden and one at The Canopy. The remainder can be found around the Bayfront Plaza area, the Meadow and Serene Garden.
The app also has a map that can guide you to the correct location, shown by the coloured area around each waypoint, to activate the artworks.
You can also snap and share pictures from within the app.
Our personal favourite stop was the Biome Gateway by Timur Si-Qin. It features an augmented reality temple cave that you can walk into be transported to a parallel universal.
Art & Nature
Seeing the Invisible is a joint venture among botanical gardens around the world and is initiated by Hannah Rendell, Executive Director at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens and Candida Gertler, co-founder of Outset Contemporary Art Fund with the support of The Jerusalem Foundations Innovation Fund. The exhibition is co-curated by Hadas Maor and Tal Michael Haring.
Seeing the Invisible Co-Curator Tal Michael Haring said, “Coming out of the pandemic when outdoor experiences and nature have taken on a new meaning and gravity in our lives, this exhibition represents a fresh way for people to engage with art and nature simultaneously. The interplay of these augmented reality works in vibrant natural settings breaks down the binary between what is often considered ‘natural’ versus ‘digital,’ and in this way provides an exhibition experience that is much more connected to the way we live today.”
Gardens by the Bay CEO Felix Loh said, “At Gardens by the Bay, we are always looking to bring in new and novel experiences that redefine how people experience nature. Seeing the Invisible is a contemporary art exhibition like no other that we have hosted before, as through the medium of augmented reality, visitors are able to interact with the verdant surroundings in unexpected ways. On the occasion of Gardens by the Bay’s 10th anniversary, we hope this unique experience will be yet another opportunity to surprise and delight our visitors.”
Other gardens around the world participating in the second season of Seeing the Invisible include the Adelaide Botanic Garden, Australia, Eden Project, England, and National Garden, Athens, Greece.
More details can be found here.
