For thousands of years, change itself never presented a problem for mankind as evolution only meant humans became more equipped in the story of time. Yet since the advent of technology, the speed in which change has come about has accelerated tenfold, pushing us closer than ever before to destruction and further away from salvation. Yes, technology has also brought with it an equal amount of good but such feelings of apprehension are still palpable beyond question, which makes Cooke Latham Gallery's latest installation Children of the Future ever the more pertinent.
Reflecting on the intricate relationship between 'man and machine', Children of the Future acts as an invitation for viewers to step into an alternate realm inhabited exclusively by children as different facets of the exhibition come together to collectively communicate the challenges that not only face the next generation but also question what the world that they inherit will look like.
Transforming the gallery space into a piece of theatre, the installation - which is the brainchild of Royal Academy graduate Fani Parali - mixes the art of performance with sculpture and soundscape to create a 'lip-synched opera', debuting the week of the gallery's opening. The audio echoing throughout the gallery will be composed of synthesised children's voices, an intentional act that feeds into the exhibition's gloomy theme but also one that is there to help the viewer climb into a child's mind.
Speaking of the exhibition, Parali said in a statement: 'A water opera inhabited only by children; these anarchic guardians of a vulnerable yet resistant realm speak back at The Machine and raise primordial dens within its high-tech bowels.'
As ancient Greek hydraulic designs are blended with industrial blueprints (check out the gallery's excavation site-like appearance) to form the aesthetic foundations of the exhibition - one that's helped culminate 'an unapologetically theatrical and unified painted design' space - you may think such references to be varied, or even disjointed. But before you jump to any conclusions - about this exhibition or indeed, tomorrow's generation - we urge you to witness Parali's performance for yourself (which you'll be able to do so during London Gallery Weekend); one that promises to address those all-too-real societal concerns rooted in the ramifications of unbridled technological progress.
Whether you consider yourself to be a child or not, Children of the Future is a call to action for people everywhere to wake up and realise such beauty the world has offered us for millions of years may soon cease to exist... it's time to change that.
Children of the Future opens at Cooke Latham Gallery on Friday 26 April and will be on show until Sunday 2 June.
