I visited 'The Flipside' art installation exhibit located at the site of the former Selfridges Hotel above the shopping centre. The art exhibition is free to visitors and showcases the top names and brands in luxury with a goal to define and redefine luxury now and for the future. This did not make much sense to me before visiting either, but it will make sense when you continue reading. Overall, this art installation is a multi-sensory exhibition that allows visitors to use their different senses.
The entrance into the exhibition is through a hole in the wall. Well, I was early for the first group of the day and walked down Orchard Street from Oxford Circus to see a closed door and people waiting outside and they suggested that was the entrance, but it ended up being the wrong one. The entrance is literally at the end of the building (far end) on Orchard Street.
First up was a walk down this tunnel, which led to a room with the Google Pixel group (which I had booked for as well) and then the iron staircase of the old hotel, which was impressive and lit up.
First up was the room of mirrors. The mirrors also had text on the back, but these were interactive and allowed visitors to take their photograph and look at the area through mirrors in the different angles.
The area of the installation was covered in a shiny material on the floor which had the appearance of the surface of water. It was dimly-lit inside, adding to the allure.
Loewe's art installation at 'The Flipside' featured several out-dated technological items piled up and encased on glass cabinets. This represents the future of technology with our mobile phones allowing us to replace these bigger machines with something that fits in our pocket) and also represents resources and environmental impact.
The next installation was designed by bartender Mr. Lyan and it took me into a room where three separate groups of objects were scattered. The idea was to choose a group of objects that appeals most, answer three questions, and then to be given a small taste of a cocktail. Apparently bartenders can ask questions to determine what type of drink the customer is in the mood for or which drinks are preferred. Companies currently have the marketing data but are limited to what they can and cannot use. The idea is for the future is to enable the bartender to make custom drinks for customers through marketing data and always provide what the customer is in the mood for. That sounds pretty amazing to me. And, although it was just a small taste of cocktail, the preference was spot on for me. Many times I've had cocktails that are too strong or simply just not enjoyable for me, so this one won me over.
Thom Browne's 'The Flipside' art consists of two obese women spinning around a glass case that lights up and then fades out. This is meant to mimic a music box. The note next to the exhibit said that the artwork is a tribute to fashion today.
Gareth Pugh's contribution to the event was an installation of two videos inside a dark room filled with sand. The videos were taken on England's northern coast and included seaside sounds and immersed the visitor with video into the location. With the crunchy sand underneath my shoes, I did feel like I was on a northern beach.
Louis Vuitton's art installation at 'The Flipside' consisted of several small gatherings of their goods (handbags, shoes, jewels) amongst earthy elements such as mushrooms, crystals, plants, and tree branches.
Byredo's installation was a tower of lit-up water jugs. The water jugs were all labelled with the water source (country) and the date. Clean drinking water is one of Earth's most precious resources, and it is in danger of pollution and other environmental impacts.
The last item was Selfridge's timepiece. There was a queue to interact with this, and it symbolises time as in a giant sundial. Visitors could stand in the centre and watch time disappear in seconds.
On the ground floor by the entrance and exit was the Google Pixel exhibit that allowed visitors to create luxury images of themselves. Visitors had to get into the middle of the rings and then select three images that they liked the best, and an image would be created based on their preferences. It was described as being a kaleidoscope effect, but it seemed to be a mash-up montage.
And, that draws the exhibition to a close. There were not too many exhibits, and it took me about thirty minutes to see and experience the different installations. It would have taken far less, but I got stuck in queues for the cocktail and the sundial and had to wait several minutes to get a decent photograph of one exhibit because people kept stopping in front of me and then deciding to get their own photograph. This event went on from 26 of April until 20 of May, 2018.
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