"Decode" at the V&A: Digital Reflections and Refractions. By Charlotte Frost.
A large installation in the Grand Entrance of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum clatters away, registering its presence in this historic hallway. Jointly commissioned (by the V & A and SAP), bit.code (2009), by Julius Popp, consists of a large panel of black and white blocks which appear to represent a curious, indecipherable code as they rotate around their frame. Periodically its units align, clearly depicting popular terms streamed live from news site feeds. In this physical form and location, this is real-time made somehow more timely. Looming over visitors, a literal staging of data being decoded, the work asserts itself as an apt entry portal to "Decode", the V & A's inaugural exhibition of contemporary digital and interactive design. This institution has long been dedicated to collecting and presenting the myriad manifestations of design, from architecture to textiles. It therefore seems right and fitting that some of the products of recent digital design be displayed here too. A lovely detail of this continuity between objects d’art past, present and future is demonstrated by the cover of the exhibition catalog. Its decorative ‘wallpaperyness’ seems to reference the Arts and Crafts movement while looking not dissimilar to 1960s Op art, and yet there’s no escaping the fact it features a highly stylized plug motif. This serves to reinforce the digital as the mode du jour, as well as making it clear this is somewhere it should feel rightfully at home. And such eager hospitality allows the show to occupy not just the Porter Gallery, but other parts of the V & A and South Kensington locale. The exhibition has been arranged under three closely intertwined themes: Code, Interactivity and Network. Though they serve as reminders of the characteristics of the work, there is too much over-lap between these terms for works to actually be ordered according to such categories. In more literal terms, therefore, you first encounter small, mainly screen-based, code-driven works before arriving in a playground of large-scale interactive installations, with the pieces categorized as ‘networks’ sitting in between. However, given that a great number of works within the selection (made by the V & A and partner curators onedotzero) reference mirrors, a clearer – though unofficial – theme might be that of ‘reflection’. more... http://rhizome.org/editorial/3310 _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
