The Future Starts Here

6A2 6B2

'The Future Starts Here seeks to reunite the fields of art, design, science, and technology, after more than a century of separation. By cutting across these disciplines and placing them in dialogue, we once again reflect the contemporary reality of creative production and are able to draw a new picture of an emerging future...

...If the Great Exhibition of 1851 sought to make sense of a world in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, The Future Starts Here assembles technologies and products in order to make sense of the nascent digital revolution.’

Exhibition at the V&A, London.

Foreword
The world of tomorrow is shaped by the designs and technologies emerging today. From smart appliances to satellites, this exhibition brings together more than 100 objects either newly released or in development that point towards where society might be headed. Although some may seem straight out of science fiction, they are all real, produced by research labs, universities, designers' studios, governments and corporations.

'Guided by ethical and speculative questions, the exhibition invites its viewers to step into four scenarios – self, public, planet and afterlife – each evoking increasing scales of technological impact. How might these objects affect the way you live, learn and even love?

The undeniable physical reality of these objects may give the impression that the future is already fixed. But new things contain unpredictable potentials and possibilities, often unanticipated even by their creators. It is up to us – as individuals, as citizens and even as a species – to determine what happens next. While the objects here suggest a certain future, it is not yet determine the future we get is up to us. The future starts here.'

Response
Attending this exhibition provided a huge contextual insight into where design is now, and where it's heading. The significant presence of stereotypical 'futuristic ideas' which are now present and active, is a relevant thing to both know and note for the development of my own practice. 

• Should I be working predominantly digital?
• What is the future of travel?
• How is technology and design informing the future of a) the environment b) politics c) social justice d) space exploration e) death and medicine f) AI
• What is the future of image taking? and image sourcing?
• What is the future of packaging design?
• What is the relevance of material in the future? Is sustainability being considered?

All these questions and more were answered and explored throughout the exhibition. I even got to experience the soon-to-be automated cars. 

 

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 

 


Book

Context:

'The V&A was born our of the idea to host a collective event to make sense of the future. The Museum's origins trace back to the first Great Exhibition staged in the Crystal Palace, London, in 1851. This exhibition brought together the greatest achievements of the world, combining fine arts with new technologies, machinery and even raw materials. Presented in a flat hierarchy, examples of art, design and technology were displayed alongside one another, providing an overarching picture of the scientific and cultural innovations that would usher in the modern world. Many of these objects formed the basis of the collection of the South Kensington Museum as a means of preserving this one-off event in an enduring public institution.

Some decades later, at the end of the 19th century, this all-encompassing structure had become unwieldy, and two new museums were created to provide some distinction. Reflecting the logic of the age, obsessed as it was with categorisation, the collection was divided into distinct specialist: the machines and technology were transferred to the Science Museum, while the art and design were kept in the no names V&A. Thus this brief period of a unified approach to creativity came to a close.

Albeit on a more modest scale, The Future Starts Here seeks to reunite the fields of art, design, science and technology, after more than a century of separation. By cutting across these disciplines and placing them in dialogue, we once again reflect the contemporary reality of creative production, and are able to draw a new picture of an emerging future.'