This is the first in-depth exhibition of art, design and architecture of the 1970s and 1980s, examining one of the most contentious phenomena in recent art and design history: Postmodernism. It shows how postmodernism evolved from a provocative architectural movement in the early 1970s and rapidly went on to influence all areas of popular culture including art, film, music, graphics and fashion.
The exhibition, designed by architects Carmody Groarke & APFEL (A Practice for Everyday Life), briefed DALD that the lighting design should be bold and dynamic, with good tonal contrast.
The installation is set out in three of the main temporary gallery spaces. The first gallery opening section also introduces the way in which postmodern designers and architects like Aldo Rossi, Charles Moore and James Stirling combined motifs of the past with elements of the present. Designers of the time, including Ron Arad, Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo, assembled cultural fragments in an 'ad hoc' manner, applying the technique of bricolage across many different disciplines.
DALD used a combination of colour temperatures (daylight 4000 Kelvin & tungsten 2800 Kelvin) to delineate areas in this section of the exhibition. The lighting fixtures were positioned from mid level lighting tracks and high level lighting trusses.
The centrepiece of the gallery is a full-scale reconstruction of an architectural façade by Hans Hollein from the 1980 Venice Architecture Biennale 'Strada Novissima' - a theatrical approach was taken to lighting this piece with the use of soft dappled gobo projection from ETC Metal Halide fixtures, which were positioned at a fairly acute angle, to avoid light spill onto exhibits behind the reconstruction.
The second gallery is devoted to the proliferation of postmodernism through design, art, music, fashion, performance, and club culture during the 1980s.
On entering the second gallery space a large blue light box off sets a dramatically lit Cinzia Ruggeri dress, with further exhibits predominately top lit by AR111 8 degree based fixtures and dimmed to conservation levels.
The second part of this gallery consists of a large 'Studio 54' club-like space, which is constructed out of black scaffolding and backed with silver chainmail. The space features costumes from performers such as Annie Lennox, Grace Jones, David Byrne, Klaus Nomi with objects by fashion photographers Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton. To help give the space a really dynamic immersive quality the use high output RGB LED MultiPARs fixtures are positioned off the scaffold structure at varying heights, applying strong bold brush strokes of colour across the structure. Costumes, exhibits and text labels are lit by MR16 PARs which are dimmed and sequenced within the space.
With three large projection screens showing original footage from 1980s videos of Grace Jones, David Byrne and Klaus Nomi, DALD worked closely with the AV designers Studio Simple to add a further dimension with lighting, which in turn was programmed and synchronised in with the videos.
Throughout the spaces the 2D graphic designers, APFEL introduced neon signage as way to delineate the various themes, which throw vibrant hues of colour into the exhibition spaces.
The final gallery is dedicated to money with the commodity culture of the 1980s. This boom decade saw money become a source of endless fascination for artists, designers and authors. From Andy Warhol's 1981 Dollar Sign paintings, to Karl Lagerfeld's designs for Chanel, consumerism and excess were trademarks of the postmodern culture. As the novelist Martin Amis put it in 1984, 'money doesn't mind if we say it's evil, it goes from strength to strength.' The gallery features bold super graphics with the objects recesse
