Pulling Back The Curtain

We’re inviting you into a space that is separate from the city around you, into an architecture that is quietly technological. When you enter our darkened space, you will see five tall, blade-shaped structures, each glowing to light the space. These structures are your interface with the architecture; a static device that receives your input and sends the data to our computer. Printed on each of these ‘blades’ are ten statements, each from a category of technology or study that will be critical in the formation of the future of our society. The statements are different on each blade, but the categories are the same. We invite you to react to each statement with a touch to the triangular buttons on either side of the text. Does the statement inspire fear or does it inspire hope?

The choices that you make are compiled by the computer, and in reaction to your choice, a further statement is added to the screen at the front. The resulting statement will represent a potential outcome of the technology with which you’ve engaged in deciding between fear and hope.

Every choice made by every person that interacts with the space contributes to a snapshot of a potential future, represented in the list streaming at the front of the space. This snapshot is your future; a reminder that you are a contributor to it, but not the sole author. It will exist for only a fraction of a second; as soon as someone else makes a choice it will change but the light level of the blade that you stand at will tell you how bright your own view of the future is. We will also measure the overall mood of all participants on a spectrum of hope and fear – how bright is our future, or how bright do we think it is?

This is a world of its own. Like all of our history it is a hybrid of the past, present and future. It is otherworldly, yet familiar; natural, technological, nostalgic and alien all at the same time. Everything in this space is made from the fundamental products that allowed our species to flourish: wood, cloth, rope, steel and paper. It is static, but connected. Things are more than they seem, and yet are simple, made with tools that are generally available.