The future. It is a subject which fascinates us and drives the constant demand for newness that governs 21st-century society. It is also the subject of a nine-part film series, “Future Relic”, created by artistic polymath Daniel Arsham and shown at the Edition Hotel as part of this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach. The screening forms part of a series of events hosted by B&O Play by Bang & Olufsen and Dazed – titled the Play Collective, a global initiative launched by Bang & Olufsen with the intention to champion emerging creatives and provide them with a larger platform to showcase their work. 

Featuring stars such as James Franco and Juliette Lewis, “Future Relic” takes the idea of archaeological excavation and aims to apply this to the future. “I started thinking about how I could do the same thing, but project it forward,” he says, expanding on the project. “I did that by taking objects which we all know, and have an understanding of, but altering their materiality by changing them into crystal or ash.” 

The fourth installment of the series takes place in the cockpit of a plane, and aims to question our treatment of the environment around us and the ways in which it is constantly changing. The aim of the project is to look to technology as cultural ephemera in the same way that archaeologists look to ancient objects as a signifier of their time. This can be related back to the distinctive design of Beoplay products, which are emblematic of modern technology – in fact, the film itself could not have been shown without the A9, which powered the screening at the event. By embracing modern technology, Arsham positions himself alongside other creatives taking part in the B&O Play Collective and creating forward-thinking pieces.

In an interview with AnOther, which took place after the event, the image-maker expanded on his futuristic narrative. “The future is something that contains the everyday – it contains the now. All the things we see here, in this space, will exist in the future. He also admits to taking inspiration from previous generations and their predictions for the modern day, explaining “the film uses references to the idea of the future which existed in the past – the way we imagined it in the 1960s. In some ways, for me, that feels more futuristic than a lot of things that are being made now.”