Walking into a stranger’s flat uninvited and unacknowledged whilst
they are showering isn’t something I’ve ever done, but if I did I imagine that
I would experience a particular mix of feelings: trepidation, excitement,
foreboding, invulnerability…. I could go on but generally all of my ideas are
linked to voyeuristic hedonism. The idea of being a fly on the wall, of course,
will always have its allure.
But could this experience be simulated? What Dragnet and
Evergreen have come up with at the V&A is at once fascinating and
ridiculous. They have managed to distil the essence of the world famous 19th
century museum in all its imperial spectacle for a 21st century eye.
Behold: the interior workings of the illusive inhabitant have been captured for
you! There is even a narrative built in for you to follow! You can examine it
to your hearts content safe in the knowledge that he will never escape the
shower (something I find frankly sinister, or is it just me who imagines the
worst?).
There’s a lot of safety in make believe.
And this seems to be what the kids in London are looking for
nowadays. Just check out how popular Punch Drunk’s new immersive theatre
production is where the audience and the actors share the same stage, or look
at the Jeremy Dellar work at the British Pavilion in Venice where part of the experience
was to stop mid-way and have a cup of tea served up to you…. the evidence
suggests that despite all our efforts to be earnest and face up to reality us
Brits are happy to be preoccupied by fantasy; we’re simply becoming more
extreme in the way we explore/ express it.
It’s a great show, and it is on until January. I suggest you
go and see it, because it is nice to be reminded in how many different ways we
can escape reality.
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