Where are all the futuristic nightclubs?
I don't just mean a laser show and techno music, I mean a totally new experience, an exploration of what it means to live and play in the second millennium. Human meaning, art that we can identify with, is woefully lacking in the technology of our daily lives. terran is a project meant to address that.
terran will provide the entire aesthetic. Not just the exotic spaces, glowing drinks, or alien-sounding music; but also the fashion, art, and tech needed to finally feel like we live in the new millennium. The club would cover an entire futuristic experience, and in the process help to redefine our present.
Can tech be more than an omnipresent tool for production and staying online? While it provides empowerment, it offers no artistic direction of its own. So far the trend has been a homogenized consumer society, sterilizing culture and draining personal expression outside a brand-loyalty defined box. The future has been defined almost purely by production, and as such has left us an app-scape where the only serious innovations that concern us are our "devices".
Utilitarianism for the sake of efficient consumption isn't sufficient to meet the needs of societal expression. The desire to control has historically oppressed expression, but so does consumer apathy, the difference being that the consumer usually accepts what they're being offered. Innovation for the consumer can be said to exist so long as it is an improvement on what came before, but in order to have more - both in depth of progress and breadth of innovation - we must be a society of conceivers.
One could argue that our society is dystopic only in how we undervalue the potential flavor that can be added to our daily lives. We don't reach for it because we've come to rely on companies to do the innovating for us. The important thing to remember is that technology doesn't sterilize culture, it offers no direction at all by itself, it's up to us to reject a bland reality.
What happens when you allow humanity to breathe itself into technology? Syd Mead's visionary concept art provides a visual schematic for remolding technology into a living experience. For good or ill, our technology is already our way of life. If we treat tech as art, technology not only empowers people, it necessarily improves the quality of our lives (beyond what we might call "basic needs").
terran will focus on providing a venue for experiencing a futuristic life today. Adults drinking at a glowing bar with "android" servers, a teen-friendly hangout complete with competitively ranked games and arcade, a dancefloor complete with holographic dancers and environment, a cabaret for new and experimental artists, and plenty of quiet alcoves for private drinking and dining parties.
Around the club will be terran vendors for acquiring stylish clothing and accessories, futuristic hairstyles, innovative tech, science fiction media, and even exploring ideas with guest presentations on future human development. We need to talk about and build the future ourselves if we want it to be spectacular, creating a nexus for new ideas, and meanwhile, we can enjoy the truly unique experience of the club itself.
