Manifest Dystopia is an augmented reality (AR) exhibition spread across the city of Denver, Colorado — a series of walkable art clusters in popular neighborhoods like Sloans Lake, RiNo, 16th Street Mall, and the Santa Fe Art District, featuring over 300 artworks by more than 100 local artists.
Presented by Denver Digital Land Grab as a free gift to the people of Denver. Unfunded. Volunteer-built. Still live.
Looking for something different on a Friday night? Grab a bite, grab a friend, and explore one of these free Pokemon Go–style art walks. It supports local artists and it's something totally out of the ordinary.
Access the interactive map to find AR installations near you.
Denver Westword Winner
Best Renegade Art Show of 2023
Manifest Dystopia was recognized by Denver Westword for its scale, community impact, and renegade spirit — over 300 works, 100+ artists, zero funding, and a city transformed.
This is a DIY, grassroots art installation — enjoy and be sure to tell your friends!
How It Works
Minifesto
Manifest Dystopia is a creative prompt to stimulate an experiential conversation around our individual and collective experience of a system failing, as well as our role and responsibilities in perpetuating, accelerating or correcting it. During the last 3 years we saw cracks in the structures that both sustain and oppress us. We want to see what comes from artists pressing fingers into that crumbling brick and mortar, and having a hand in building the hereafter.
The title Manifest Dystopia is a play on words, remixing our own dark history with fantasy and asking artists to ponder: how did we get here, how can we change course, and where do we go from here?
"Dystopia" is defined as a fictional world where "warlords and demagogues take over, some people forget that all people are people, enemies are created, vilified and dehumanized, minorities are persecuted, and human rights as such are shoved to the wall." We do not live in a dystopia — but our culture does exhibit certain dystopian characteristics that should be scrutinized and serve as stark warnings.
Art is a catalyst for change. We invite artists to participate in this visual discussion with works that are hopeful but also apocalyptic, dystopian, solar punk, bleak, abstract, relevant, representational, reverent, and observational.
"In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it." — Ernst Fischer
Visual Conversation
These images are not decorations — they are part of the dialogue. Made specifically for Manifest Dystopia, they are a visual language spoken directly to the community.
The Original Concept Born during the pandemic, when physical space collapsed and artists lost their stages, this was the seed — a vision for reclaiming the city through augmented reality.
Announcement Flyer The flyer that launched it all — combining the visual worlds of Denver Digital Land Grab and Manifest Dystopia to announce the project to the community.
Opening Party — Sloan's Lake The flyer for our opening event. Community, art, and a party — exactly how a renegade exhibition should launch.
Westword AR Feature Manifest Dystopia as seen through an augmented reality Westword publication — the project entering the cultural conversation in its own medium.
Money Barrel Part of the visual conversation around systems of power, capitalism, and the structures that shape our world.
Money Vector-style currency in a pile — because some conversations have to be about who has it and who doesn't.
Nuclear Girl A girl perched on a toxic waste barrel — unbothered, surviving, maybe thriving. The dystopia is already here and she's sitting right on top of it.
Nuclear Symbol The universal sign of danger, power, and the end of things. Still relevant. Maybe more than ever.
Coke Bottle Corporate culture as dystopian artifact.
Coke Bottle II A second take on the same conversation.
Mushroom Cloud Lady She's been through the apocalypse and she's still standing. A symbol of resilience in the ruins.
Manifest Lady The sweet smell of societal collapse. **sniffing sounds**
Welcome to Dystopian Colorado We took every welcome sign on the Colorado border and turned them into augmented reality — greeting visitors not with the usual fanfare, but with an invitation into something stranger and more honest.
Gas Mask Pigeon The decentralized pigeon — surviving in the contaminated city, unbothered, still delivering messages. A mascot for the renegade spirit of the project.
Sponsor pitch video — part of the original project launch.
A glitchy end-of-the-world vision — the project's atmosphere in motion.
Project Credits
David Hanan
Rachel Caaw
