Into The Unknown : Exhibition at the Barbican 8th June 2017

[cheerypeabrain]

Bixa and I met on Thursday...we have been chatting online for a while now and as she was in London we decided to meet up BIG DEAL. I was soooo excited....and yes...she is pretty amazing.

After the initial screaming and hugging and babbling we decided to visit the Barbican exhibition 'Into the Unknown: A Journey through Science Fiction'. We expected great things....the booklet we were given on the way in, and the poster both looked very promising.

The exhibits were chosen to illustrate the genre from it's origins to the modern day. Books, artwork, television and films were represented. Unfortunately only the exhibits themseles were lit so it was very difficult to take pictures (my technical skills with a camera are not great) so I'm afraid I didn't do justice to the exhibits...for which I apologise.

Here are a selection of the few images that I did manage to take. (I was absolutely furious with mself for not managing to get clear photos of some of the best exhibits) I shall just plonk them on here.....sorry for the lack of labelling...I did take images of the labels but they were terribly blurred. Hopefully Bixa managed to get a few

Beautiful models made for early films...











Props from more recent Science Fiction Movies....Godzilla, Star Trek, Alien among them...

















Some of the amazing artwork....books and scripts























Sorry it's rather random....

The last part of the exhibition was really hyped up...down on level -2 in 'the pit' we were expecting great things and were a bit let down by an arty farty installation...a machine with a light on the end of it surrounded by screens with holes cut in them....it was suppposed to represent something very deep...we were not impressed

[kerouac2]

I still wish I could have seen it. Great report!

[cheerypeabrain]

Thank you Kerouac.

[bixaorellana]

Oooo ~ you got great pictures, Cheery! And you're being way too modest, as it was really hard to get photos, what with the darkness lit by glary spotlights and the fact that the exhibits were prudently protected by glass.

I still think they should have allowed us to pick just one thing apiece to bring home as a souvenir.

As soon as I get a new mouse I will whip my pictures into shape & post what I have.

Oh yeah ~ those two Star Wars helmets are originals from the film. *want*

[bixaorellana]

Cheery is kindly allowing me to add my pictures to her thread. There will be some duplication since we were in the same place at the same time.

I've tried to match such captions as I have to the correct items, not altogether successfully.

Anyone who reads this and catches incorrect identifications or can supply information where it's lacking, please jump in!















Hope I'm not telling tales out of school, but Cheery told me a great story about her dad and early Soviet space-related materials.
Let's see if she's willing to share it here ~





We were in a huge dark area and there were big screens set up here and there showing pieces of movies.
You never knew what you'd glance up to see ~

[bixaorellana]

The Egyptian-style masks were extremely striking and very hard to photograph.



I've lost track of which mask was which, but here is Cheery's photo then mine ~













There were interactive toys ~



~ May the gods of geekdom preserve us, but there is more to come ~

[bixaorellana]

Such cool pictures, and I don't know what they are!

One of my favorite moments at the exhibition:
A very attractive and fashionably dressed young woman was there. Tall and poised, she exuded cool right up to the point where she came up and nudged me hard enough to jostle me, excitedly saying, "Did you see? Did you see? That's Kane up there!!!" It was absolutely adorable.

Another intriguing movie clip ~

[bixaorellana]

And now for a negative note. When you start on your journey Into the Unknown, you are given a map and a bewildering blast of oral instructions so you can find your way to all parts of the exhibition, which are scattered here and anon around the Barbican. At this innocent outset you don't mind, because you're so excited by the promise of the grand finale: The Pit. Well, double humph and how dare they!

Just so you'll know why we were expecting so much from that feature, here is the online brochure: www.barbican.org.uk/intotheunknown/. See all the swirling clouds, the mysterious unknown? Yeah, well -- that is not what you get in The Pit. What you get is a seriously boring, wtf, student-level art project that does nothing to justify the space it takes up and simply pissed off this museum goer.

Just to amp up the anticipation so we'd be even more disappointed later, these are the stairs going down to The Pit ~

But this is what was actually served up, along with blithering drivel attempting to justify it.

I took a couple of boring pictures, but really the best part of it was Cheery's summation: "Doing a spot of welding in the garage."







Into the Unknown will be at the Barbican until September 1, 2017.

Unsure whether you'd like it? Here is a review that I think does a good job of summing it up:
www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/into-the-unknown-a-journey-through-science-fiction

[cheerypeabrain]

Jolly good pics Bixa. I think that we covered enough between us. I was lost in a wonderbliss of Science Fiction lusciousness me. The props were pretty amazing...I was thrilled to see Spock's space suit from the first Star Trek film..(10th image dowwn on first post...orange and black). The artwork was staggeringly beautiful, particularly the early stuff.

[kerouac2]

Wonderful collective report and shame on anyone who never saw Douglas Trumbull's Silent Running about the last spatial biodomes after Donald Trump destroyed the world.