On a trip through ‘Absurd City’: London’s psychedelic ‘amazement park’ where you’ll lose yourself in immersive art
A pocket of surrealism in the heart of the capital
Welcome to Absurd City, a surreal immersive experience that’s opening at Westfield London this week.
The brainchild of startup Wake The Tiger, its creators describe the space as an “amazement park” with a footprint the size of a football pitch.
It’s like a futuristic funhouse for adults, designed to make you feel like you’ve tumbled through the looking glass. Inside, there are five themed districts filled to the rafters with abstract installations.
Shortlist was invited to take a trip into the Absurd City parallel universe ahead of its official opening. Here’s what we discovered within…
THROUGH THE PORTAL
As you turn an unsuspecting corner in the Westfield shopping mall, the last thing you expect to see is a portal to another dimension, but here we are.
The sci-fi themed entrance is sandwiched between M&S and the lifts. As you enter and board an escalator, signs inform you that you’ll soon be leaving London behind.
Our guide today, Wake The Tiger cofounder Graham MacVoy, tells us that we are “Day Trippers” who have entered an interdimensional departure lounge. Our destination, he says, is the dystopian world of Meridia where a band of rebels are fighting for their lives.
After stepping along the aisle of a deconstructed plane that looks to be caught in some kind of wormhole, we reach a cobbled high street area.
This, a cheery yet creepy town crier declares, is Bloom Street and “everything is fine!”. They also rush to reassure us during a theatrical power cut sequence which is all part of the storyline about their planet’s failing power source.
In the spirit of a Choose Your Own Adventure story, Absurd City is self-paced which means you can roam around freely and take as much time as you like gawping at the installations or chatting with the inhabitants. It takes around 2-3 hours to explore and you definitely get your money’s worth.
Gazing up at all of the billboards and illuminations in this grungey metropolis, Bloom Street feels somewhat familiar. It reminds me of the C Street area at the Meow Wolf immersive experience in Denver, USA.
A legal quarrel was previously brewing between the two companies, but cofounder Graham tells me it’s “all gone” now.
SIGHTS, SOUNDS, SMELLS AND GAMES
As we meander deeper into the Absurd City, the multi-sensory experience continues to diversify and expand. Moving through over 100 spaces, we are dazzled by neon lights and even delighted by the scent of sugar in a surreal sweet shop scene.
What’s more, there are scores of communal arcade games, puzzle terminals and interactive elements throughout the exhibition. The goal here is to create ways for families and friends of all ages to spend time playing together and making memories by bringing them out of their comfort zone or typical environment and off of their smartphones.
One game in particular caught my eye, a large glowing cube in the Neon Nexus district of Absurd City. This game was created by Digital Funfair and is the original interaction installation first seen and experienced at Boomtown Festival.
It’s a fun homage to Boomtown which is the immersive underground music and theatrical festival from which Wake the Tiger first emerged during the pandemic. The company’s prototype location, which you can still visit in Bristol, was created as a year-round home for the types of immersive art, scenery and stories featured at the festival.
Easter eggs nodding to the Bristol venue are sprinkled throughout Absurd City, including neon pulse cap mushrooms which are a focus of the underlying story at the original location.
LARGER THAN LIFE (AND TINY TOO)
Hundreds of creatives have spent the past year dreaming up and building out this cityscape. It’s easy to lose yourself in it and forget that you’re technically still inside a Westfield shopping centre.
The jaw-droppingly large sets include a 30 foot tall felt banana, a salvaged British Airways aeroplane you can board, doorway tentacles and a red double decker bus.
The scenes and secret passageways are something everyone from around age five or six can enjoy and, unlike its Bristol counterpart, it never feels like little eyes and ears would find it too scary or sinister.
Wake the Tiger describes itself as a “positive impact organisation” and its sustainability philosophy is reflected in the eco-friendly art showcased throughout Absurd City. Many of the pieces are created from salvaged and recycled materials. The designers even spent time skip-diving to find the perfect pieces to repurpose.
In addition to the larger than life environments, dozens of miniature pieces of artwork and dioramas feature in the immersive world, from intricately reimagined dolls houses to henges carved out of circuit boards. The attention to detail is a joy to behold.
BIG BOOMTOWN ENERGY
For the grand finale, we are ushered from the colourful Imaginopolis district into a gritty interactive control room. The city’s power source, The Genny, is about to burn out.
Cofounder Graham smiles and tells me it should feel “Boomtown-esque” with plenty of bass to boot. Without sharing too many spoilers, it’s here that Absurd City’s narrative reaches its thrilling denouement, bringing to the fore a message about Earth’s own climate crisis. It lands without feeling preachy.
We are treated to a literal crescendo of light and sound, lasers and house music, designed by the creators of Glastonbury’s famous themed late night area, Shangri-La.
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
After saving the city from destruction, and surging my step count for the day, my stomach rumbles.
Even the themed cafe is environmentally mindful, with local beer made from recycled bread and a meat-free menu. I refuel by tucking into a tasty BBQ pulled mushroom bagel with slaw.
As we begin our journey back into the real world, we pass through the Wake The Tiger gift shop. Refreshingly, this too has been curated with care and consideration; 92% of the products are ethically sourced and the clothing is created in partnership with Oxfam. The creators’ debut YA novel, telling the broader story of the Wake the Tiger universe that connects the Bristol and London locations, will no doubt be stocked here when it arrives next summer.
Developing and cementing the parks’ own IP and lore is certainly a smart move to keep the public engaged.
Having spent eight figures creating it, Wake The Tiger has bold ambitions for the exhibition to become one of the capital’s top five tourist attractions.
Seasonal overlays, starting in 2027, could help attract repeat visitors, and more districts are planned to open in the Absurd City in the years ahead. School trips, adult only nights and birthday parties are also on the cards.
Today I only scratched the surface and I’ll definitely be back to take another trip.
Wake The Tiger’s Absurd City opens on October 15th and tickets are on sale now.
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