AltARed State is the third edition of Art Encounters, presented by Art Outreach Singapore in partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board at Mandarin Gallery, Orchard Road, from 21 January to 7 February 2021. The programme's travelling shipping containers returned during Singapore Art Week 2021 with a site-specific augmented reality installation by local tech artist Eugene Soh.

Responding to a period of extended isolation that compelled many to look inward, AltARed State invited visitors to discover how they might have been shaped by an ever-evolving world. Through AR filters designed to respond to emotional cues and facial expressions, viewers could invoke fantastical imagery inspired by Surrealism and folklore — prompting reflection on our place in the world and the unattended aspects of our psyche. Traditionally used to supplement physical exhibitions or experienced individually through mobile screens, AR was here transformed into an immersive, standalone encounter that brought people together to interact with art in a shared space. In doing so, Soh's work harnessed the power of technology not only to manifest our innermost states and imaginations, but to connect us to one another.

Eugene Soh is the founder of Dude Studios, a creative tech studio focused on VR and AR, and Mind Palace, a social enterprise using VR to support dementia patients. A self-taught programmer who entered the art world after a photographic work went viral in 2012, Soh has since built a practice at the intersection of technology, humour and social commentary.

As organiser and presenting institution, Art Outreach commissioned and produced AltARed State, extending the Art Encounters programme into new artistic territory and reflecting the organisation's commitment to bringing experimental, technology-driven practices to public audiences beyond traditional gallery spaces.