Barbican

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  • Resurrecting the Sublime: digital reconstruction of the now extinct Hibiscadelphus wilderianus Rock, on the southern slopes of Mount Haleakalā, Maui, Hawaii, imagined around 1912 as colonial cattle farming destroyed the indigenous forest.

    Science has brought back the scent of a long-dead flower

    by 
    Nick Summers
    Nick Summers
    05.24.2019

    We've lost some parts of our natural world. Swathes of plants and animals have been consumed by evolution, shifting climates or the often-damaging expansion of humankind.

  • Engadget

    Inside the Barbican’s sci-fi movie wonderland

    by 
    Nick Summers
    Nick Summers
    06.02.2017

    The best science fiction movies use costumes, models and physical props to sell their vision of the future. Alien, for instance, would be nothing without the compression suits worn by its ill-fated crew outside the Nostromo. From June 3rd, the Barbican Centre in London will be celebrating these movies and the staggering work that went into them through a new exhibition called 'Into the Unknown.' Walk down its dark, curving corridor and you'll find original spacesuits from Alien, Moon, Sunshine and Star Trek, as well as original Darth Vader and Stormtrooper helmets from Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.

  • From idea to exhibition: developing art for Google

    by 
    James Trew
    James Trew
    07.13.2014

    Digital Revolution is an art exhibition currently running at London's Barbican Centre. Part of the exhibition is Google's "DevArt" project -- a selection of code-based installations. Google commissioned three established artists for the show, and ran a competition to find an up-and-coming artist to join them. Below we take a look at how an idea goes from concept, to code, to creation.

  • Google urges artists to get coding for Digital Revolution exhibit in London

    by 
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    02.05.2014

    Google is hardly new to the art scene. But its latest project, a partnership with Barbican (home of the London Symphony Orchestra), actually has it helping curate an exhibit of what it calls DevArt -- interactive installations built around technology. The internet giant wants artists to "give life to code, letting it spill from the screen and onto the canvas." That means everything from Kinects to typewriters are game (and we're confident there will be a healthy amount of the former) so long as the creator puts their considerable developer talents to work building something unique and beautiful. A handful of artists have already been commissioned to contribute, but Google is opening up submissions to the public. Wannabe developer artists can head to devart.withgoogle.com to pitch their project. The winner will receive a Google-funded budget of £25,000 to realize their vision, which will ultimately be shown at the Barbican, where millions of tourists and art lovers will see their creations. The commissioned artists, Karsten Schmidt, Zach Lieberman, and duo Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet, will be documenting the birth of their new works. So, if you're in need of inspiration ahead of the March 28th deadline, you can follow along as these four delve into their own creative processes. In the meantime we'll be taking bets on how many Arduinos make it into the final exhibit. (I'm guessing 37.)