It’s been on for a few weeks now, but we’ve only just caught the current Jon Rafman exhibition at the Zabludowicz. And this provocative Canadian artist has come up with what may be the oddest thing you’ll witness in the dying embers of this year.
The show is ostensibly about “the relationship between technology and human consciousness,” but wait, come back! It’s way more quirky than that sounds, with all manner of noisy internet memes, and eye-catching HD landscapes of video games, online chats, iPhones and iPads. And while the show is ultimately perhaps an acquired taste, none of it is less than absorbing. In fact, pretty every image and sound is designed to be provocative.
Things worth checking out? A cupboard you climb into to view a screen, a pitch-black maze to be navigated in the back room (complete with Oculus Rift), “hug sofas” that constrict you a little too tightly as you watch some fairly, er, adult animated images, and a waterbed on which to wobble while fixating on floating footage above.
But the installation that grabbed us most was actually the ball pool. Especially as it’s the first thing you see entering the crepuscular main room.
Yes, explains a soft-voiced gallery attendant, you simply remove your shoes and any loose items in your pockets, climb up the ladder and jump in. Not forgetting to ditch your English reserve along the way – before grabbing a pair of headphones, of course.
The balls are packed a little too tightly; in fact, we were convinced the Victorian gallery was overheated to increase the sense of claustrophobia in the enclosed, immersive exhibits. And in case you’re in any doubt, the intense short film you peer up at from the ball pool plays on themes of paranoia and the need to ‘belong’.
See how long you can last – but relax, the film’s only a breezy five minutes! – before gasping for air and clambering back out. Probably to the amusement of other visitors. Why, you’ve become part of the exhibition, after all.
