Unreal City is London’s biggest public festival of AR art

Acute Art and Dazed Media present 36 virtual sculptures, arranged between Waterloo Bridge and Millennium Bridge along London’s South Bank.

Pioneering artists from all over the world, including Nina Chanel Abney, Olafur Eliasson, Cao Fei, Alicja Kwade, Koo Jeong A, Marco Brambilla, Darren Bader, KAWS, Bjarne Melgaard and Tomás Saraceno have come together for Unreal City, London’s biggest public festival of AR art.

Acute Art have partnered with Dazed Media to present 36 virtual sculptures, positioned at 24 sites between Waterloo Bridge and Millennium Bridge along London’s South Bank. Using the Acute Art App visitors to the banks of the River Thames can unlock this immersive series of augmented reality artworks.

Ranging from Alicja Kwade’s tiny spinning top and Cao Fei’s surreal depiction of her son to Tomás Sarcaceno’s colossal spider, Bjarne Melgaard’s virtual update of his bronze statue Lightbulb Man and KAWS’ floating Companion, Unreal City inserts a host of artwork into the dizzying scale of the city of London.

“There are constantly new lenses to see through in order to see the world differently,” says Olafur Eliasson. “Now the wonders are outside. Why not look at art? And why not try to scale the art so it fits with the city?”

Unreal City takes place from Tuesday, December 8 to Tuesday, January 5, 2021 between Waterloo Bridge and Millennium Bridge along London’s South Bank. Download the Acute Art App to access the AR festival here.