Digital Revolution: The Immersive Future of Art and Technology
The Barbican’s massive, genre-bending art and media showcase peers over the digital edge.
Running July 3 through September 14, 2014 at the Barbican in London, "Digital Revolution" will offer an endless scroll across the digital landscape. Historical projects and objects, and a host of current technologies and installations will come together for an interactive immersion about how technology has seeped into every corner of our lives, yet still provides new creative possibilities.
Assemblance by Umbrellium (2014)
This interactive light display by Usman Haque and Dot Samsen, their first indoors, will feature a grid of laser sculptures.
Image courtesy of Umbrellium
"You can interact with a majority of the works, from installation art to a display that shows how the folding street scene was created for Inception," says Assistant Curator Dani Admiss. "It’s really about how technology can benefit culture and creative visions."
Kinisi by Katia Vega (2013)
An "e-makeup" application, the Kinisi systems flashes different lights based on facial muscle movements.
Image courtesy of Katia Vega
Choosing representatives from computing, installation art, 3D printing, wearable tech, indie gaming, music and digital effects, and storytelling, lead curator Conrad Bodman is literally cramming the Curve, the installation space at the center of the Barbican, with screens and spaces for visitors to observe and interact. Museum-goers can stroll between a showcase of the acclaimed visual effects of Paul Franklin and his team at Double Negative; play with and shape an interactive light field installation from Umbrellium; sculpt a living 3D wall created by studio Seeper; learn how the affects from Gravity were created by studio Framestore; and participate in a Google-sponsored creative coding area.
ISAM with Amon Tobin (2011)
V-Squared Labs and Leviathan created this cutting-edge concert setup, which surrounds the Brazilian-born producer and DJ with real-time projection mapping and generative imagery.
Image courtesy of Calder Wilson
It promises a riot of pixels, plastic, and participatory technology, which draws an even sharper contrast between artifacts that show where we’ve been (a Pong console, or Tim Berner-Lee’s first website) and the constantly re-rendering digital frontier.
Treachery of Sanctuary by Chris Milk (2012)
With this interactive storytelling installation, viewers’ own shadows are refracted back in different shapes and forms. The creator said the project "shares a spiritual intent with the prehistoric paintings on the walls of the caves of Lascaux."
Image courtesy of Bryan Derballa
Check out our slideshow for a preview of installations and objects being featured at Digital Revolution.
Poster for the Original Pong Arcade Game
Part of the Digital Archeology portion of the exhibition which looks to the past of digital technologies, this vintage advertisement just hints at the possibilities and potential of gaming technology.
Image courtesy of the Barbican
The Wilderness Downtown Video for Arcade Fire (2010)
Directed by Chris Milk and created with friends from Google, Radical Media, and B-Reel, this interactive web and video project pushed forward the possibilities of HTML5.
Image courtesy of the Barbican
Fairlight CMI Series III with Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie
Developed by two Australian designers, the Fairlight introduced sampling and a real-time graphical pattern sequencer to the world of synthesizers.
Image courtesy of Peter Vogel
Petting Zoo by Minimaforms (2013)
Theodore and Stephen Spyropoulos created these robotic "pets," which adapt and change their behavior based on interactions with humans.
Image courtesy of Apostolos Despotidis
Concept Sketch for Together by Matt Pyke (2014)
Developed by Matt Pyke, this interactive installation is like doodling on steroids; users submit drawings via a mobile app, which are then added and animated to a group display.
Image courtesy of Universal Everything
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