杏吧原创

at London Science Gallery, until 6 January 2019

IN THE spacious atrium of the new London Science Gallery, Lawrence Epps is tweaking the workings of a repurposed coin-pushing arcade game. It is part of the gallery鈥檚 first show, . He hands me one of 10,000 handmade terracotta tokens. Will I be lucky enough to win a gold-leafed token, or maybe one of the ceramic ones stamped with images of an exotic sunset? No.

Reluctantly (I鈥檓 hooked already), I leave and follow up the stairs. Hooked is Redler-Hawes鈥檚 responsibility. Fresh from co-curating [JOYCAT]LMAO at the Open Data Institute with data artist Julie Freeman, she took on the task of building London Science Gallery鈥檚 launch exhibition. She soon found herself in a room with six 鈥測oung leaders鈥� 鈥� selected from local schools in the London boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth 鈥� who, for the past year, have been shaping the direction of London鈥檚 newest public institution.

鈥淲e are not a neutral space,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲e鈥檙e interested in all the things that make simple facts hard to find. In a show about addiction, that means thinking seriously about all the personal and social factors that might drive people to harm.鈥� And by people, Redler-Hawes means all of us.

Addiction, she argues, is a normal part of life. Every tribe has its social lubricants, and, as she points out, 鈥渨e are creatures who like to explore, who like pleasure, who like extending our boundaries intellectually, emotionally and physically, and we are also creatures who aren鈥檛 that fond of pain, so when we encounter it we look for an escape route鈥�.

鈥淲e are not a neutral space. We鈥檙e interested in all the things that make simple facts hard to find鈥�

A visit to Hooked becomes increasingly unnerving, as one by one you identify all the apparently innocuous corners of your own life that contain at least an element of addictiveness, from caffeine to Facebook. That journey begins with the show鈥檚 iconic image, a lolly-turned-pincushion from the series Another Day on Earth by , whose work explores the moment when getting what you want becomes taking what you can鈥檛 help but take.

The Science Gallery ethos is to leave its visitors with more questions than answers. It is there to pique curiosity, rather than address ignorance. The success of this approach, pioneered by in 2008, can be measured by the project鈥檚 rapid expansion. There are Science Galleries planned for Bangalore this year, Venice in 2019 and Melbourne in 2020, not to mention pop-ups everywhere from Detroit to Davos.

Science Galleries do not amass private collections. Each show is curated by someone new, displaying work from art, science, engineering and territories that, frankly, defy classification. Shows already announced for London include explorations of dark matter and prosthetics. That latter show, explains the gallery鈥檚 departing director Daniel Glaser, is going to be very hands-on. A different proposition to Hooked, then, which is about international art and curatorial rigour.

Glaser joins our exploration of the wet paint and bubble wrap of the half-assembled exhibition. Among the more venerable pieces here are Richard Billingham鈥檚 films from the late 1990s, capturing the gestures and habits of life on benefits in the deprived corner of West Bromwich, UK, where he grew up. Smoking, snorting, hammering away at a PlayStation might be addictive behaviours, or might become addictive, but the films remind us they are also ways of dealing with boredom. They kill time. They are ordinary activities, and of obvious utility.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all users, which means we鈥檙e all at risk of tipping into harm,鈥� says Redler-Hawes. 鈥淎ddiction is a natural part of being human. It鈥檚 a problem when it鈥檚 harming you, but when that happens, it鈥檚 not just you that鈥檚 the problem.鈥�

This point was brought sharply into focus for her when she discussed addiction with the gallery鈥檚 young leaders group. 鈥淢y idea of addiction was a forty-something in a room unable to work, but these young people were absolutely engaged and a bit afraid that so much of the environment they had grown up in was very obviously vying for their attention, and quite literally trying to get them hooked.鈥�

Naturally enough, then, online experiences feature heavily in the exhibition. Artist 鈥荣 celebrated and extremely uncanny Feed Me (2015) is a twisted fairy tale where ghastly characters communicate in emojis and textspeak, as each pursues a lonely path in search of the unattainable.

More immediate, and more poignant from my point of view, is a new video installation by Yole Quintero, , which very quickly convinces you that your phone is much more a part of you than you ever realised. Anyone who has had a relationship decay into a series of increasingly bland WhatsApp messages will get it. 鈥淎 lot of these pieces are about love,鈥� Redler-Hawes comments, quietly.

鈥淚t is the world鈥檚 most pointless video game 鈥� but I defy you to stop playing once you have started鈥�

Although the emphasis here is on established artists, there are pieces that point to just how mischievous and hands-on this institution is likely to become in the years ahead. 鈥荣 Entering the Machine Zone II is a new commission, developed with the assistance of , founder of the first NHS gambling clinic. It is the world鈥檚 most pointless video game 鈥� though I defy you to stop playing once you have started. It propels you with frightening rapidity towards the dissociative state that, for gamblers in particular, is the real attraction of their vice 鈥� far more addictive than the promise of money.

It is also the state one achieves when climbing a demanding learning curve. Addiction in the guise of flow isn鈥檛 bad. Though then, of course, we call it passion. Not everyone will be comfortable with this show鈥檚 broad definition of addiction. But there鈥檚 nothing lazy about it. If the show doesn鈥檛 change your mind, it will certainly have sharpened your opinions.

The tour done, Glaser takes me around the building itself 鈥� a 拢30 million development that has transformed a car park and an underused wing of the original 18th-century Guy鈥檚 Hospital into a major piece of what the papers like to call 鈥渢he public realm鈥�. What this boils down to is that people come and eat their lunches here and find themselves talking to lively, well-briefed young people about curious objects that turn out to be about topics that don鈥檛 often come up in ordinary conversation.

Accessibility here is about more than wheelchairs, it is about ensuring that the people who used to visit the McDonald鈥檚 that formerly occupied the cafe area can still find affordable food here. This is important: there is a hospital next door, and streets full of people desperate for a steadying cup of tea. It is about building a terrace around the gallery鈥檚 150-seat theatre, so you can come in and see what鈥檚 going on without finding yourself intruding or getting trapped in something you鈥檙e not interested in. It is about getting into conversations with the staff, rather than being approached only when you are doing something wrong.

Glaser, who has spent the past five years directing this project, is a neurologist by trade, and is keenly aware what a difference this space will make to researchers at King鈥檚 College London, the university associated with Guy鈥檚. These days, knowing how to communicate with the public is a key component to securing funding. With this Science Gallery, Glaser tells me, 鈥渁 major world university is turning to face the public. It鈥檚 becoming an asset to London. We鈥檙e a part of the city at last.鈥�

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪cience for the people鈥�