Sampling the Future is a new exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia, opening in August 27 2021. From 3D-printed corals and modular underwater reef structures, to robotically printed and knitted architecture, Sampling the Future explores some of the extraordinary ways that advanced technologies and manufacturing are shaping our near and distant futures.
The exhibition includes new work by leading experimental and speculative designers whose practices bridge the worlds of design, technology, science and philosophy in order to reimagine how and why objects, structures and buildings are designed and made. These include speculative architects Roland Snooks and Leanne Zilka, Alice Springs-based designer Elliat Rich, Sydney-based duo Kyoko Hashimoto and Guy Keulemans, and Melbourne duo Georgia Nowak and Eugene Peripletchikov, among others.
Sampling the Future draws on a selection of works from the NGV Collection in combination with new projects, such as a new major room-sized commission from Alex Goad and his Reef Design Lab. Goad’s 3D-printed modular system is designed to mitigate the increasing impact of human activity on marine ecosystems through the construction of reef habitats in tropical and temperate waters without the need for heavy-duty equipment. While providing protection for smaller fish species, the reconfigurable structure is also designed to support coral and filter feeding species such as oysters and mussels.
Tony Ellwood AM, Director of the National Gallery of Victoria, said: ‘Through the work of leading designers and architects, this exhibition gives audiences an exciting glimpse our many possible futures – both real and imagined. The designers in this exhibition are using their ideas and skills to create objects, environments and images that expand our understanding of design, as well as to raise philosophical questions about how people in a distant future might make sense of today.’
Sampling the Future is on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Fed Square from 27 August 2021 to 6 February 2022. For more details, see https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/sampling-the-future/.
