The Future Is Here, an Alec Newson exhibition from London’s Design Museum, will be hosted and co-curated by Victoria’s RMIT University Design Hub from 29 August to 11 October this year.

The exhibition focuses on the idea that we are in the midst of a transformation that is changing the way we design, make and consume objects we depend on.

Mass customisation, emerging technologies and platforms such as crowd funding, social networking, online marketplaces, robotic manufacturing processes, 3D printing, nanotechnology, routing and open-source micro computing, are all addressed in the exhibition as factors that are removing the barriers of access to manufacturing.

The exhibition will also address the historical processes that have led us to this condition, including the history of production and consumption and their cultural significances. The Australian version of the exhibit will feature additional local design research projects under five themes: Digital Making; Mass Customisation; Mass Production; Social and Unmaking.

Designer Alisa Andrasek will host a lecture at the free event on 29 August while her project, Bloom (pictured above) will be exhibited in conjunction with Project Room 3.  Bloom is an urban toy, distributed social game and collective ‘gardening’ experience that first appeared in London, as part of the capital’s city-wide celebration during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

The Future Is Here begins Thursday 28 August, 6-9pm.

The creative team:

  • Design Museum Curator:  Alex Newson
  • RMIT Design Hub Curators:  Kate Rhodes, Fleur Watson
  • Exhibition Design:  Studio Roland Snooks
  • Exhibition Graphics:  Stuart Geddes and Brad Haylock.

Image courtesy of Matthew Sleeth and Claire Oliver Gallery, New York.
The Bloom image courtesy of Alisa Andrasek.