David Bowie Is

The David Bowie is exhibition has been all around the world and is currently on at ACMI in Melbourne until 1 November. The exhibition is a comprehensive look at David Bowie's career across five decades and the things that have influenced him. There are numerous costumes, handwritten lyrics, stage set designs, album artwork, photos, videos, and movie clips taken from the Bowie archives. The exhibition is also unique in its use of headphones and guidePORT so that the sound played matches where you are standing in the exhibition.

Bowie is such a visual artist, and it was great to learn about the various influences on him and how it translated into a certain persona for each album. Seeing his costumes up close and being able to watch him wearing them in those iconic clips was a fantastic opportunity. One of the things I found most fascinating was his use of the Verbasizer software program to write song lyrics, which automated the process of cutting out words and phrases on paper and randomly putting them together. At the end of the exhibition you remove the headphones and get to watch concert footage beamed onto a large wall. These are the final weeks, so if you are in Melbourne be sure to get to ACMI to check it out.