PRESENTATION: Future Shock

“Future Shock” is a major new exhibition of leading international artists and collectives working at the cutting-edge of audio-visual technology. Blurring the boundaries between the physical and the virtual, Future Shock presents immersive installations that transform 180 Studios’ subterranean spaces through mesmerising and pioneering digital technology – from generative and interactive algorithms, AI, and 3D digital mapping, to spellbinding laser work, holographic projections, and ground-breaking electronic music.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: 180 Studios’ Archive

Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawa’s digitally generated audiovisual works take on multiple forms including installations, recordings, and live concerts. Making its UK premiere, “subassemblies” (2020/2022), a site-specific iteration of subassemblies considers the relationship between nature and human-made through the perspective of architectural scale – using 3D digital mapping, quadrophonic sound, and strobing to create a mesmeric multi-layered experience.  Continuing UVA’s explorations of sensory experiences through the lenses of technology, “Topologies” (2022)  consists of four kinetic sculptures that project single-color planes of light, forming shifting geometries that continuously divide and reconfigure space, creating an intangible realm that alters the viewers’ perception and their relationship with the spaces around them. London-based artist Lawrence Lek expands his ongoing “Sinofuturist” cinematic universe with “Theta” (2022), an alternative exploration of technology, identity and nonhuman empathy. A 180 Studios commission, created entirely in Unreal Engine, Theta is set in the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe where a self-driving car travels through the remnants of SimBeijing, a smart city that has become a ghost town.  Inventing boundary pushing interfaces between sound and vision, Weirdcore is one of the UK’s leading digital artists. A 180 Studios commission, inspired by the phenomenon of lucid dreaming, “Subconscious” (2022)  is an abstract journey into the inner mind, with its myriad of potential pathways – soundtracked by frequent collaborator Aphex Twin – disorientating visitors from reality. Ben Kelly bridges the physical and virtual with “Columns” (2022) a kinetic installation that interrogates the totemic properties of columns, from power and classicism to romanticism and decay. Expanding on one of the fundamental architectural features of Kelly’s design for the Hacienda, the iconic Manchester club, this 180 Studios commission features an original soundtrack by electronic music innovator Scanner.

An ‘Infrastructure for Inverted worship’ driven by a real time conversation with a GTP3 BOT called Herbie, the new 180 Studios commission, “Convo 2.2 Complex Confessional” (2022), sees multidisciplinary London-based artist and musician Gaika consider AI ethics, horror, labour, and theology in an architectural study comprising film, sound, and sculpture. Distorting the relationship between space and time, Paris-based visual artist Noemi Schipfer and architect/musician Takami Nakamoto’s mesmerising “Daydream V.6” (2021)  makes its UK premiere – interweaving connections between the virtual and physical realms, creating a deceptively powerful meditative experience.  Gener8ion is a collaborative project by acclaimed French filmmaker Romain Gavras and electronic producer Surkin. Set in 2034, “Neo Surf” (2020) is a tale of the future with no capital F, a future that uncannily looks like the present: an AI scanner capturing emotions, a fly-over alliance posing with a spaceship, teens enjoying flying surfboards. No sudden end of the world, but a seemingly ‘normal’ environment, underpinned by a thread of slow violence. “Vicky” (2022), by 180 Actual Objects  imagines a world where branded data and gamified interactions define space: a desert-like environment populated by digital humans triggered by motion senses allows for the telling of multiple experiences. Based in Los Angeles, Actual Objects functions primarily as a creative studio, probing digital spaces, metaverses and the role technologies play in shaping frameworks of perception, aesthetics, and emotion. “Mustafa” (2022) is British-Cameroonian artist Ibby Njoya’s first foray into the realm of digital art. Mustafa is named after the artist’s late father, a sculptor, who Njoya credits for his early curiosity with colour and dedicated interest in African artefacts. Mustafa serves as an opportunity for Njoya to thank his father for inspiring his practice and teaching him what it meant to be an artist.

A classically trained musician, Italian electronic virtuoso Caterina Barbieri collaborated with artist Ruben Spini to create “Vigil” (2022), a total environment that merges musical, visual, and sculptural elements to explore the transformative power of sound and vision. A new commission by 180 Studios, Vigil’s central element is a portal that connects to Barbieri’s idea of music as a gateway which transcends time and space. Soundtracked with an original score by Floating Points, Vortex” (2016/2022)  is an interactive light, smoke and sound installation that generates a series of smoke rings that travel through space, suspending our sense of disbelief. A creative studio based in Barcelona, Hamill Industries’ Pablo Barquín and Anna Diaz marry computerised, robotic and video techniques to create boundary-pushing experiences at the forefront of technology. Making its UK premiere, multi-disciplinary collective Tundra’s “ROW” (2020) installation employs six holographic projectors to translate raw visuals driven by generative sound and data, from mathematics to twelve notes of the chromatic scale – transforming the nature of both the physical pace around us and an imagined, virtual space the work engineers.  Object Blue & Natalia Podgorska, “What Melissa Said “(2022): In the future not far from now, it was discovered that astrologically predicted personality traits were true. That in turn pushed for the ground-breaking realisation that the simulation theory was real; one of its laws was the 12 sets of characteristics assigned during the initial creation. Humanity slowly learns to cope with the newfound knowledge. A new school of thought arises: attempts at the perfect synthesis of information — a monotonous stream of verbalised consciousness, performed by the population — to overload the simulation and force it to start over, or release themselves from it in an independent dimension. This is a test phase in early stages, with 12 volunteers recruited from 12 pools of the assigned personality traits respectively. They are attempting to unify their expression. Their avatars have been uploaded into a safe and controlled environment within a test simulation to see the potential effects through. To appease the public eye, and gain more funding, the experiment is conducted in the form of a reality TV game in a luxurious, exotic destination. A significant new iteration of UVA’s iconic 2013 work, “Vanishing Point 3:1” explores the relationship between geometry, sound, light, and space. A commission by 180 Studios, the installation creates the illusion of light as a physical material – a laser carves through space, transforming our sense of perspective: unpredictable and without repetition, fluctuating from calm to pulsing, energetic movements.  “The Queen is Coming” (2022), the directorial debut of internationally revered fashion image maker Ib Kamara is a collaboration with Sudanese-French designer Abdel El Tayeb and ShowStudio. The Sierra Leone born and London based Kamara invites us into his surreal world of girls dressed in the fashions of El Tayeb, a master of craftsmanship. The Queen is Coming is a personal endeavour for Kamara, reflecting the tensions he faced growing up.

Participating artists: UVA, Ryoichi Kurokawa, Caterina Barbieri, Lawrence Lek, Actual Objects, Weirdcore, Gener8ion, Ib Kamara, Gaika, Tundra,  Hamill Industries, Nonotak Studio (Noemi Schipfer & Takami Nakamoto), Ben Kelly, Ibby Njoya, Object Blue & Natalia Podgorska

Photo: Subconscious by Weirdcore (2022)

Info: Future Shock, 180 The Strand, London, United Kingdom, Duration: 28/4-28/8/2022, Thu-Sun 11:00-19:00, www.180thestrand.com