David Bowie has been at the forefront of the world of popular music for nearly 50 years, and his immense creativity positions him as one of the most innovative performers of all time. His work is marked by continual re-invention, intellectual depth, musical innovation and striking visual presentation. Re-tracing Bowie’s creativity and influences from all areas of art, the exhibition shows a wealth of material, including videos, stage costumes, album covers, stage sets, photographs and of course Bowie’s music. For this, the exhibition’s curators, V&A’s Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh, were given unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive.
Fittingly for a tribute to an artist that has embraced technology throughout his career, the exhibition uses leading edge tools to blend sound and vision. Audio guides, powered by Sennheiser’s guidePORT system, automatically provide the music and soundtrack when visitors approach the exhibits and screens, and seamlessly integrate all sound material into the tour. The exhibition will use 550 bodypacks with Sennheiser stereo headphones, offering a simple solution that lets the visitor explore Bowie’s music, art, and style with all their senses.
The audio voyage through the exhibition culminates in two extraordinary 3D audio experiences. Viewing footage of David Bowie perform live concerts and recordings filmed for TV, visitors are enveloped within a fantastically spatial performance of his music delivered by hidden Neumann and Klein+Hummel loudspeakers. This 3D sound experience is also used during Tony Visconti’s evocative “mash-up” of Bowie songs, created specially for the exhibition by Bowie’s long-term producer.
To enable both stereo and mono material to be played as a 3D reproduction, an upmix algorithm by Sennheiser’s Gregor Zielinsky was used. “We had some really old mono material, not exactly recorded under the best of circumstances”, explained Gregor Zielinsky, International Recording Applications Manager. “With the algorithm and some fine-tuning in the studio we ensured that this rare material can now be enjoyed in an astonishingly new form.”
Paul Whiting, President of Global Sales at Sennheiser, commented: “The Victoria and Albert Museum designed ‘David Bowie is’ to be as much about the sonic as the visual. The Sennheiser audio guide and groundbreaking sound system were installed with this in mind. Our sound engineers have used their considerable expertise and the kind of audio design normally found only at major music events. Sennheiser was innovating when many of these sounds were created, and we have pushed the barriers of sound again to enable you to hear Aladdin Sane, Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke the way Bowie, Visconti or Eno intended.”
Following its run at the V&A the exhibition will tour internationally (venues to be confirmed).