V&A DECODE: Digital Design Sensations

8th December 2009 - 11th April 2010, Porter Gallery, V&A, London

V&A DECODE was the UK’s first digital art exhibition and the first one of this scale in the world, featuring works from many well-known international artists. Having worked with digital designers at several recent events, Aztec was approached by the V&A in July 2009.

36 digital designers from across the globe provided “objects” for display. All used some sort of computer, screen or projection to display an image, and some used cameras and audio equipment. The V&A envisaged that Aztec would provide all the relevant equipment (by way of hire), install it and purchase specialist equipment. The artists would only provide custom equipment that Aztec would integrate with its equipment to create pieces of art.

In the first phase Aztec’s project manager Dan Munslow worked with the exhibition designer on the layout and created an Aztec task force. We needed to contact each of the artists and gain more understanding of each object. Dan seconded our Sales Administrator to set up and manage a matrix of objects/designers, and, six weeks before the start of the exhibition, deployed four of our senior technical staff to ensure constant technical communication with the artists. We set up an FTP server where artists could upload technical information, and collated what the artists perceived to be their hardware requirements.

We soon realised many of the artists had requested equipment which was not appropriate for the space available, and of a much higher specification than necessary. By negotiating with the artists we amended the specifications to work within the space and also within the V&A budget. We did this in a way that would maintain the integrity of the artwork whilst still being cost-effective. The job evolved into a purchase deal when the V&A realised that they could create a world tour of the exhibition. 

After collating technical requirements we created 3D CAD drawings of the art gallery, mapping the exact position of each object and the associated equipment. By doing this we were able to work out projection angles, distances, camera angles, viewing angles, etc., thereby ensuring that the proposed equipment could actually do the job. We ordered and tested every single time in our warehouse. 

The installation phase started in November 2009 and took two weeks. As pieces were being installed, we liaised with the artists, repeatedly tested the artworks and went out of our way to ensure the pieces were up and running exactly as the artists envisaged. This was challenging not only because several artists were literally thousands of miles away, but also because many of the pieces were actually prototypes and even the artists themselves couldn't be sure how or even if they would work! After many long days our technical team had every exhibit working for the start of the show.

Whilst testing and commissioning the exhibits, Aztec staff wrote an extensive 65 page technical manual detailing how to set up the equipment. The manual had been written in such a way as to enable another integrator to implement the exhibition anywhere in the world.

 

V&A were blown away by our precision, professionalism and determination to go the extra mile. The entire event was about innovation, and our involvement helped push our own knowledge to new levels, especially in the area of interactivity. One of V&A's long-term goals was to branch out into digital art, and Aztec facilitated this transition by delivering high-quality services. Decode was a huge success and V&A exceeded its visitor target within the first month! As a result Aztec obtained repeat business with V&A at Late Fridays events and 1:1 Architects exhibition in May 2010.

                                                                    

Press

AV Magazine Case Study, March 2010

Event Magazine, December 2009

BBC: London in pictures, December 2009 

AV Magazine Case Study pdf

 

Photos courtesy of V&A and onedotzero

 

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