OVERVIEW
It’s not history as we know it — it’s big, loud and in your face. But, hey it’s only rock & roll and it’s giving the audience satisfaction. This is Exhibitionism – the title and a great description of the band whose touring exhibition kicked off at the famous Saatchi Gallery in London. Exhibitionism celebrates 55 years of the Rolling Stones, the iconic group formed in the 60s when music fans loved their raw rhythm and blues and parents hated them. And, just like the band, this is no ordinary exhibition. It’s an interactive art experience featuring the band’s iconic costumes, personal memorabilia, album art, original instruments as well as reproductions of their first shared flat, favorite recording studio and a 3-D backstage tour.
The exhibition reflects the band members’ edgy creativity — Mick Jagger was an arts school student and he’s very detailed; Charlie Watts is very gifted in art and design. So, the exhibition had to meet exacting creative and artistic standards. And, it had to showcase the most up-to-date technology and video production that became such a feature of their stadium concerts. As Tony and Thea Cochrane, founders of International Entertainment Consulting (IEC) the organization behind the event, put it, “the design of the displays had to be as colossal as their body of work.”
Innovative and immersive audiovisual sets the tone for the exhibition, projecting imagery onto sensational designer clothes and instruments as architectural features to tell the story of one of the famous bands of the time. LED walls serve as a dynamic background for the bands’ artefacts. Striking cinematic and interactive technologies recreate the loud, pounding experience that is the Stones live. 3-D filming gives visitors an exciting sense of what it feels like to be backstage before heading out to face a massive, screaming audience. This show really rocks.
