The Future Happened

posted by Emily Gosling April 16, 2021

What unites The Deftones, Fela Kuti, Peter Saville, Shabazz Palaces and zine-making? Music is the obvious answer, but what we’re clumsily getting at here is all of the above’s pioneering, future-changing unity of sound and design, be that graphic design, technological innovation, moving image or fashion.

The intersection of music and design is being explored in a superb new online exhibition titled The Future Happened, and hosted by the Museum of Design Atlanta. The show is curated by London-based DJ and cultural connector Ruby Savage, Atlanta based Hip-Hop writer Floyd Hall, technologist Marlon Fuentes and Lawrence Azerrad, an irrepressible music and design aficionado and founder of LAD Design.

Azerrad has long been a champion and explorer of the unity of sound and visuals: LAD has scooped Grammy awards for its sleeve design work, which has included designing for the likes of Blue Note Records, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wilco and The Red Hot Chili Peppers; and Azerrad spearheaded the Designing the Future of Music initiative, which worked with institutions like the Royal College of Art in London to “support design’s power in expanding the access, discovery, and experience of music today and tomorrow.” Last year, he also worked with Spencer Tweedy to publish a book exploring home-recording musicians, Mirror Sound.

As you might expect with that powerhouse of a curatorial team The Future Happened is an exhaustive show that takes refreshingly diverse, original angles through which to explore the pioneers, and pioneering technologies and designs, that underscore musical innovation. As Azerrad puts it, “The exhibit examines design as a door to connecting to music more deeply, reinforcing our capacity to authentically reflect communities and spark change.” He adds that it showcases how innovation in design and technology also “deepens our relationship with music and amplifies its capacity to make the world a better place.”

The Future Happened is rooted in its home of sorts, Atlanta, and charts the city’s influence locally and globally, while also highlighting more than 50 artists from Europe, Africa, Japan and the US.

Among the featured musical artists are Adama Jolloh, Clipping, Shabazz Palaces, Lava La Rue, KAZU, Deftones, The Church of Coltrane, Sampa The Great, Neneh Cherry, Spillage Village, Burna Boy, Laraaji and Organized Noize (of Outkast and Goodie Mob fame). Their work is explored through the avenues of film and video, virtual reality, online innovation, fine art, fashion, experiential, AR, packaging and graphic design, zines, choreography, photography and more.; with those practitioners represented by the likes of Jamie Reid, Peter Saville, Lami Ghariokwu, and Diato Manabe.

The show is organised into various categories—Community, Power, Technology, Timelessness, Healing, and Atlanta—as opposed to chronology or genre. The exhibits include exclusive interviews, process archives, prototypes and music-based design speculations on the future from California College of the Arts and Imperial College London.

The Future Happened is accompanied by an education programme aimed at young creatives that teaches people how to make zines with digital tools. There’s also a print on demand gift shop, with proceeds from sales going directly to the artists; as well as livestreamed VR performances from Imogen Heap, Georgia band STS9 and Bishi.