The Fading Afterglow of Evolution Exhibition
Fri, 10 Apr 2015
The Fading Afterglow of Evolution is a exhibition by Dave Briggs and Jack Squires in the Cube Gallery at Phoenix. Both Dave and Jack received Interact Labs bursaries last year and this is the first outing of their new work.
The exhibition is based around the idea of a archeological dig (perhaps in the future, or maybe a parallel present?) in which a number mysterious 'artefacts' have been found.
The artefacts include 3D rendered golden statuettes, an obelisk, a door that spews junk mail though a 'letter box', and a 'sensorama' that produces ambient smells based on the predicted weather reports for tomorrow. Collectively, these objects form an environment in which you are encouraged to explore and ponder. Drama is added to the experience through the use of a polythene tunnelled entrance!
To me, the exhibitions explores to main ideas. Firstly, what might future archeologists make of the artefacts they discover from our age? When stripped of their original context how do we make sense of past things? We do our best to understand found objects. But we can never really put ourselves in to the minds of the people who made them. Secondly, how do our imaginings of the future effect the future we actually get? We like to believe that we are in control of our technical and social development, but can any of us say what the world will be like in 50 years? Or a hundred, or let alone a thousand?
It's a thought-provoking show and well worth a visit. The exhibition runs until Friday 8th May at Phoenix and is free to enter. My photographs from the opening event can be found here on Flickr.
