Augmented reality art exhibition ‘Seeing the Invisible’ to take place at Gardens by the Bay from Oct 12

Gardens by the Bay will host the second season of Seeing the Invisible from Oct 12, this time featuring 12 large-scale augmented reality installations incorporated into the garden’s natural landscape.

The exhibition comprises works by artists from all over the world, including Israelian Sigalit Landau, Turkish-American Refik Anadol and New York-based Timur Si-Qin. The works will address themes around nature, the environment and sustainability, and visitors will be able to view and engage with the works through an app on their smartphones and tablets.

Seeing the Invisible aims to forge new links between gardens located in diverse locations around the globe and fosters collaboration between institutions, artists and audiences, highlighting the power of art to connect people around the world.

“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,” said Tal Michael Haring, co-curator of Seeing the Invisible.

Gardens by the Bay will be the only garden in Asia to host this exhibition, which will also be on display in 10 other renowned gardens in Australia, Canada, England, Greece, Israel, South Africa and the United States. 

Some highlights of the exhibition include Mohammed Kazem’s Directions (Zero), where visitors will walk through a giant zero inscribed with the coordinates of various countries in the world, and an augmented reality translation of Ai Weiwei’s Gilded Cage, which comments on issues related to borders, confinement and restriction. 

There will also be an adaptation of one of El Anatsui’s recycled bottle-top installations into an augmented reality tapestry.

Gardens by the Bay CEO Felix Loh said that the exhibition “adds a new and novel dimension” to the existing collection of physical sculpture in Gardens by the Bay.  He added: “We are excited to be able to share this special experience with our visitors, especially on the occasion of our 10th anniversary.”

The first season of Seeing the Invisible took place in 2021 in 12 botanical gardens across six countries and was visited by more than a million people.

Admission to the exhibition in Singapore is free.