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Patrick Gyger is the curator of the major exhibition Into the Unknown: A Journey Through Science Fiction coming to the Barbican — Europe's largest multi-cultural arts and conference venue located in London, UK — exploring one of pop culture's most celebrated worlds. Featuring works that have yet to be shown in the UK, this unprecedented show encompasses music, film and art to present a new, global perspective on Science Fiction.

The exhibition is on from June 3, 2017 through September 1, 2017. More information and tickets are available on Barbican's site or by clicking here.

Digital Art Live will have a Barbican Event Meetup on July 2, 2017 and further information can be found here on our site.

During the interview, Patrick covers such topics as

• Organization of the event into four main themes: Extraordinary Voyages; Space Odysseys; Brave new Worlds, and; Final Frontiers and how each explore classic narratives of the genre in new ways.
• Relevance and appeal of Science Fiction
• Owners of the works in the exhibition

Within the podcast we asked Patrick these questions:

1. During the 1990s you've had a focus on medieval studies, looking at crime and justice. Are there any parallels in this interest and your more current interests in curating works of science fiction?
2. You've also published a book on the history of the flying car. What inspired you to take a close look at this niche of science fiction?
3. Into the Unknown is an exhibition that is on quite an extraordinary scale for the genre of science fiction.  What enthused you to create something on this scale, or did it just naturally snowball?
4. How important is the goal of having a global view of science fiction in this exhibition? And the exhibition is going on tour isn't it?
5. Included are some pieces from the private sci-fi collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Tell us a little about Paul and his collection and the story of being able to collaborate with him.
6. You are pleased to include some artwork from the notable artist Patrick Tatopoulos. Does Patrick have a particular focus with his work?
7. The exhibition is divided into four chapters. Tell us what these chapters are and what would you wish people to value and come away with from each of these chapters.
8. The press release talks about being able to explore these four chapters of the genre in new ways. I'm curious about what these "new ways" are — or do you want to leave that a surprise?!
9. Does the Extraordinary Voyages chapter look at the roots of science fiction, where it all started?
10. Tell us about a few items of what to look forward to in the largest section of the show Space Odysseys props and models from various TV shows and movies. What pieces from this section were you particularly proud to curate?
11. The Brave New Worlds exhibition section, explores all kinds of different societies imagined by sci-fi writers. Is there a balance of utopian and dystopian societies represented here? What's your favourite society that has been dreamed up?
12. Tell us about a few of the more notable exhibits for the Final Frontiers part of the show — "inner realms from human perception."
13. Are there elements of the exhibition which celebrate artwork created digitally? Stills, animation or special effects?
14. Science fiction is important since it allows us to explore our own humanity. It allows us to do that exploration more thoroughly than other genres and can take us to the normal limits and perhaps beyond of different circumstances. Do you have a few favourite stories that look at this exploration and are they represented in the exhibition?
15. Who would you like to thank, the team in putting together this exhibition?
16. Where's the best place to go on the web to find out more on Into the Unknown?

Resources

Barbican — Into the Unknown: A Journey through Science Fiction

https://digitalartlive.com/digital-art-live-magazine/