180 Studios presents a major new exhibition by digital art collective, Universal Everything at 180 The Strand.
In Universal Everything’s largest UK solo show to date, Lifeforms will see a collection of characterful and futuristic moving image artworks inhabit the vast subterranean spaces of 180 The Strand. Many of the artworks use generative technology to evolve and shift with time and interaction, meaning that no visitor will see the same show twice.
Drawing from the history of visual culture and futurists’ attempts to depict the body in motion, Universal Everything use cutting edge digital technology to create soulful digital life and explore a wide range of human behaviours, as well as the natural world – from evolution, parades, and the dynamics of crowds, to the diversity of nature.
Presented and commissioned by 180 Studios, the exhibition will bring together 14 individual ‘lifeforms’, that will exist in distinct spaces or ‘habitats’ created by Ab Rogers Design. Lifeforms also includes the world premiere of new Universal Everything artworks Primordial, Maison Autonome, and Into the Sun.
Universal Everything’s work was first shown at 180 Studios as part of LUX: New Wave of Contemporary Art in 2020 with a reworking of Transfiguration, which will be included in Lifeforms. The studio has also exhibited at cultural institutions including ZKM, the Barbican, the V&A, La Gaite Lyrique and Science Museum.
Universal Everything: Lifeforms, 180 The Strand,12th October – 18th December 2022
Lifeforms is presented and commissioned by 180 Studios. Exhibition Design is by Ab Rogers Design.
About the artist
Universal Everything are an international media art and design collective established in 2004. Using emerging display technologies as their canvas, the studio produces vast screen-based artworks that subvert cinematic CGI, physics simulations and real-time gaming graphics, to create new forms of moving image. Their work is at times immersive and interactive, often journeying into augmented reality. It exists at the balance between abstract and figurative – the point at which a hint of life emerges, and technology becomes soulful.
With a background in graphic design and music video direction, Universal Everything repurpose the seductive language of modernist design and high-gloss consumerist style into a vibrant, figurative aesthetic. Through this stylised approach to moving image, they explore human behaviours – evolution, parades, the dynamics of crowds – as well as diversity of nature and emotion, via a future-positive outlook.
Alongside their artistic practice, the studio engages in collaborations with brands and other organisations. Collaborations have included future R&D with Apple, immersive experiences with Hyundai, generative audio-visual apps with Radiohead, and interactive spaces with Zaha Hadid Architects.
Universal Everything artworks are available as editions and have been acquired by organisations including Thoma Foundation, Borusan Contemporary and Sifang Art Museum. The studio has exhibited solo shows at V&A London, Science Museum London, La Gaite Lyrique Paris and Borusan Contemporary Istanbul, and participated in group shows at MOMA New York, Sundance Film Festival and The Barbican, London. universaleverything.com
