Outernet London launches eye-boggling immersive "digital mega-performance" about the evolution of art

Outernet London, which boasts some of the most advanced screens in the world, will be displaying a new free surreal "mega-performance" from Thursday (February 1).

Projected across its astonishing 360-degree floor-to-ceiling screens, in staggering 16k definition, the film, which is titled FLOW, will tell a history of Western art as a digital dance performance.

Designed by major Korean creative studio, D'strict, FLOW reimagines the characteristics of notable art history movements, such as Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassicism, as a series of dance moves which are then performed by large digital characters.

"D'strict are true innovators in the immersive art field and it’s been a multi-year project to bring their work to the Outernet District," said Outernet creative content head, Alexandra Payne. "I couldn’t be more thrilled to premiere this piece designed specifically for our screens and know that our audiences are going to be captivated."

Design company D'strict, which runs popular immersive Korean media space ARTE MUSEUM, has worked on a number of high-profile public art projects that have been screened around the world, including in Seoul's K-Pop Square and in New York's Times Square. The studio has won a number of accolades for its innovative work, including the prestigious iF design award.

"FLOW tells a story about the relationship between the world and oneself," said D’strict's vice president, Sang-hwa Park. "As the movement progresses, the world where our protagonists stand gradually disappears, replaced by their inner worlds.

"I hope this performance serves as a starting point that raises new questions. Rather than just a story, it increases the interest in art history or raises fundamental concerns about human pursuits."

Designed as a spatial experience, FLOW promises to be an assault on the senses, with bright colours, an encircling dynamic dance performance, and music from Australian composer, Tristan Barton.

Barton has worked on a wide-range of projects – from television adverts, to documentary films. For Outernet he has composed a "celebratory soundtrack"; a piece to transport visitors into D'strict's stimulating and thought-provoking universe.

Just a year after its opening, Outernet is now London's most visited attraction, with thousands of people passing through The Now Building, its immersive, cutting-edge Tottenham Court Road space.

"There isn't anywhere else in the world that you can experience immersive art of this quality, at this scale, for free," said Payne.

Opens at Outernet London's The Now Building on February 1; outernetglobal.com