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Digital Revolution explores and celebrates the transformation of the arts through digital technology since the 1970s. The exhibition brings together for the first time a range of artists, filmmakers, architects, designers, musicians and game developers, who are using digital media to push the boundaries of their fields. The show also looks to the future and considers the impact of creative coding, DIY and maker-culture, digital communities and the creative possibilities offered by augmented reality, artificial intelligence, wearable technologies and 3D printing.


The exhibition includes new commissions from design studios Umbrellium (Usman Haque and Nitipak 'Dot' Samsen), Universal Everything and Minimaforms (Theodore and Stephen Spyropoulos); global music artist and entrepreneur will.i.am, Yuri Suzuki, Pasha Shapiro and Ernst Weber; and a range of artists and performers including Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Chris Milk, Aaron Koblin, Björk, Amon Tobin, CuteCircuit and work by Oscar®-winning visual effects (VFX) Supervisor Paul Franklin and his team at Double Negative for Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking film Inception (2010). The Barbican have collaborated with Google on a new project called DevArt and presents four new gallery commissions by Karsten Schmidt, Zach Lieberman, Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet, as well as competition winners Cyril Diagne and Beatrice Lartigue.


Digital Revolution presents a number of impressive new installations, featuring interactive art works and exhibition-based displays. Umbrellium, best known for their large-scale and mass-participatory outdoor events, have produced their first work within a theatre setting. This immersive piece fills the space with a series of magical interactive laser sculptures, set within an otherworldly audio environment. Universal Everything, one of the UK's leading media art studios, have developed a piece for the Barbican's Silk Street entrance allowing visitors to submit a hand-drawn animated artwork that features within the gallery. The exhibition also includes the filmmaker and artist Chris Milk with his major shadow play work The Treachery of Sanctuary, presented in the UK for the first time.


Our Digital Futures section explores artists’ use of recently possible and emerging technologies with London based Studio XO for TechHaus, the technical division of Lady Gaga's Haus of Gaga, wearable technology by Pauline van Dongen and a robotic installation by Minimaforms (Theodore Spyropoulos and Stephen Spyropoulos) .


Digital Revolution was a festival-style exhibition and the most comprehensive presentation of digital creativity ever in the UK. Taking place across the Barbican with ticketed and non-ticketed elements and incorporating an offsite commission. It was accompanied by a talks and events programme and a dedicated publication.


Full press release
Selected press quotes
DevArt by Google website
Official DevArt by Google Blog Post

For more information, please contact us.

Curatorial Team
The Exhibition is created and Produced by Barbican International Enterprises.

Guest Curator: Conrad Bodman
Assistant Curator: Dani Admiss
Assistant Curator: Sunny Cheung

Exhibition Advisory Team
Jim Boulton: Director, Digital Archaeology
Julia Kaganskiy: Director of Incubator for Art, Technology, and Design at New Museum
Caroline Roux: Design writer
Iain Simons: Director, GameCity Festival, Nottingham Trent University
Mike Stubbs: CEO, FACT, Liverpool
Li Zhenhua: Artist and Curator
Yukiko Shikata: Media Art Curator

The exhibition will be available to tour internationally.


Digital Revolution past cities

Istanbul, Turkey (19 Feb – 12 June 2016)
Athens, Greece (19 Oct 2015 – 10 Jan 2016)
Stockholm, Sweden (24 Oct 2014 – 30 Aug 2015)
London, UK (3 July – 14 Sep 2014)