“Digital Revolution” at the Barbican.

The Digital Revolution exhibition does something interesting: it enables you to interact with technology through the medium of the computers of the age. So not only you can see Apple computers from the eighties; you get to play games on them. There’s Pong on a machine whose only feature is a knob you turn to move your paddle up and down. There’s Tetris on ancient Gameboys. The effect is pure joy, or at least it was for me – to see technology so obviously outdated yet still serving (some of) its purpose is exciting because it’s unusual. Spurred by Moore’s law and planned obsolescence we replace, update and upgrade, while equipment from twenty years ago might still fulfil its purpose.

Seeing ancient games and programmes in their original ecosystems is the joy of the old technology; experiencing the seamless way in which it enhances and changes (bodily) reality is the joy of the supermodern. There are many cliches about wearable technology and all the ways in which we approach transhumanism – in itself a controversial idea. The examples shown at the exhibition were memorable and interesting mainly because they transcended those cliches by emphasising the human, the personal, even the spiritual. It was uncanny to see my own silhouette with huge raven wings, moving in time with me (Chris Milk). The story of how Not Impossible Labs and Zach Lieberman devised a pioneering apparatus for creating graffiti using only eye movement – for a paralysed friend – shows that technology does not have to limit our creativity and enclose us in a virtual bubble, but can do precisely the opposite. Pauline Van Dongen‘s garments incorporate solar panels; the idea that your dress can be a source of green energy is mindblowing. Katia Vega‘s Kinisi, LED-assisted make-up which reacts to the wearer’s facial expressions, is an alluring human version of bioluminescence.

That, and more, is technology which engages emotions, solves problems, expands the body and enables us to think and express ourselves in new ways. It can be touching, poetic, sensual. It seems like there’s myriad experiences we’ve never had before that will become possible. If you’re excited by that thought, go to the Barbican – you have until September 14th.