New W+K creative team Thom Whitaker and Danielle Noël (these guys) popped down to the Barbican for a bit of creative digital inspiration. They write:
This week, we decided to let our inner geeks run free by visiting the Digital Revolution exhibition at the Barbican. The exhibition itself takes viewers on an interactive journey allowing them to see how far digital creativity has advanced over the years and what the future potentially holds for it. But in short, it’s just really fun.
The first part of the exhibition was like stepping into a teenager's bedroom in the 80s (minus the Duran Duran posters). It’s full of old video games and computers that you’re encouraged to interact with. One of the things that struck us the most about this part of the exhibition was that, despite being both out of date in appearance and function, the queue to play Pong was still longer than any queue we’ve ever seen to play Call of Duty. Makes you wonder whether we’re over-complicating things a little, doesn’t it?
But, as we moved further through the exhibition and towards the present day, that thought was soon dispelled. We were blown away by some of the installations and film pieces exhibited. One particular highlight was the giant animated version of Will I Am’s face that appeared to follow you around the room wherever you were standing. On paper that sounds like the stuff nightmares are made of, but it was strangely fascinating. Of course, once we figured out the illusion the magic was broken slightly, but for at least 30 seconds we genuinely felt like Will I Am was stalking us.
Another standout piece came from renowned digital artist Chris Milk. His piece, The Treachery of Sanctuary, allows people to stand in front of three screen panels and see themselves transformed into a bird before their very own eyes. The piece is designed to explore all three stages of life, death and rebirth, and on the final panel you are encouraged to flap your arms hard enough so that you can watch yourself fly off the screen. This not only provided an insight into how far the digital arts have come, it also provided people with that all-important Instagram opportunity to fill the void left by the Hayward Gallery's recent attraction, the balloon room. Let’s face it, we’re all a bit guilty of it.
By the time we finally made it to the future it was difficult to think of what could possibly be next, and the truth is no one actually knows, but the exhibition did highlight some interesting pieces of research that are being done at the moment. One particular piece that interested us explored the idea of wearable solar panels so that people can create their own energy through the clothing they wear. We’re not entirely sure we’re going to rush out to Urban Outfitters and get some, but who knows… maybe next year.
