Universal Everything - Lifeforms
This is the fourth immersive audio/visual show at 180 The Strand in the last eighteen months. It’s their most advanced by far, and by far the most boring. The makers, Universal Everything, are the creators of Transfiguration, “an ever-evolving walking figure” and one of the most pleasing to watch human morph loops since Michael Jackson’s Black or White video. Clearly they think so too, because 5 of the 14 installations are variations. Now it’s on fire… now it’s flowers… now it’s macarons? Ok.
Transfiguration was one of the stand-out works in last year’s Lux show, so its no surprise 180 has tapped the creators for a solo exhibition. The quality is incredibly high, which you would expect from a digital art/design studio that has created and deployed work all over the world for some of the biggest global brands. The show is also incredibly well lit and signposted without detracting from the actual installations. Some have lamented this, but stumbling around in the dark and bumping into concrete columns wasn’t what people raved about at the previous shows. What they liked was the wild experimentation and crazy variety, which this show lacks.
In addition to the 5 Transfiguration variations, there are 4 variations of dancing polygons and one long tube of small early-tech 3D printed models that don’t do anything at all. They’re interesting, but the inclusion is ultimately yet another let down in a samey-samey show with limited interactivity. With inflation being what it is, the £25 weekend entry feels more than excessive. Especially for something that’s already on YouTube.
I’m a big fan of what 180.Studios is doing, but their increasing ticket prices and decreasing variety is making it harder and harder for me to justify why it’s worth going to their shows.
At 180 The Strand (@180.studios) until 04 Dec
Tickets from £20. Children 12 and under free. Click to buy.