Y-LAB INNOVATION SHOWCASE

Y-Lab is the convergence point that sparks the future of arts & culture. Innovating future generations of creative minds in blurring the lines and expanding the boundaries between art & technology.

A forward-looking space housed within a historical monument, Y-Lab is a National Gallery initiative to spearhead innovation in arts and culture. The premise is a simple one — let’s create a space without boundaries to empower risk-takers. Here, talents from different disciplines have taken a chance to come together to blur the lines between art and technology. Taking on projects that would never have been possible elsewhere, Y-Lab is a convergence point that sparks the future of arts and culture.

It’s about a major art institution who is willing to take a chance on high-risk projects with far-reaching impact. And it’s about a space where people from different disciplines come together for a chance to reinvent how we experience arts and culture.

Y-Lab wants to push boundaries and expand the conversations we have about the future. And that’s what stood out when we looked at Y-Lab’s square bracket. We see it not simply as a bracket but a rectangle with its boundaries broken and pushed. However, innovation is never finished. This is why in our proposal; the space ‘opens’ with a bracket but never ‘closes’ it with any form of barrier or doors. This creates a boundless Innovation Showcase that embraces the ever-changing nature of the world and its future— take a chance on high-risk projects with far-reaching impact. And it’s about a space where people from different disciplines come together for a chance to reinvent how we experience arts and culture.

Inspired by Y-Lab as a ‘boundless’ environment, the display plinth is designed to work both as a collective and as individual pieces. As a collective, the plinths come together as a single sculptural piece. However, each plinth can also be taken apart as a stand-alone pushing the boundaries of the sculpture’s mobility. This allows the Y-Lab team to always adapt to the scale and size of a showcase. An extension of the Y-Lab experience, the plinths follow the material and texture of the showcase.

With the variety of different modular cubes, this allows room for countless possibilities in crafting the island display plinths in any form to cater for any type of display or screens. The frames provide flexibility in hooking displays and running of cables for interactive media. When unused, the plinths can act as a sculptural installation located in the National Gallery.