Yesterday we went to see a couple exhibitions at Somerset House, in London.

The first exhibition we saw was “TINTIN: Hergé`s Masterpiece”. Basic but obviously appealing, it was too crowded to be enjoyable.

The second one was “Big Bang Data”.

While undoubtedly interesting, especially for someone who works in, teaches, and loves bid data and technology like myself, to me the most interesting aspect of this exhibition is that everyone who was there had already experienced the subject. Even more, we are all part of it. We generate that “big data”, we process it, we benefit from it, and we are abused through it. Furthermore, most of the works exhibited had been featured in mass media outlets. Such as the outdated but nonetheless striking Debtris

So, what’s the role of such a very well curated and exhibited collection of works in today’s world?

Art exhibitions can have many functions and serve many purposes. I won’t talk about it here now, for there are already countless books and debates revolving around such a complex subject. But it is obvious that as digital communications break the physicality barrier, any objectual gathering of non-physical content can be deemed irrelevant.

Romantics, demagogues, luddites, and even some anthropologist will persistently demand a return to material in the age of the digital. Yet, as an evolving organism, shouldn’t we embrace digital in digital form? shouldn’t we adapt our experiential expectations to the possibilities that digital content allows? I completely support Bret Victor’s point of view on the matter.

Food for thought as I look forward to #Utopia2016: celebrating the 500th anniversary of Thomas More’s inspirational text. A year of artists, designers, provocateurs and thinkers experimenting with ways we might live, make, work and play.