A vast new immersive experience had opened up in the city centre. Taking over the roof and part of the cavernous insides of Depot Mayfield, Supermassive is an AV experience that is serious about play, and is fun for adults and children.
Calling themselves ‘Manchester’s first fully immersive digital playground’, the concept originally had much humbler beginnings. Back at the start of the year, the Supermassive gang – who are Ben Kercher, Joss Crewdson, Louis Schamroth-Green and Louis Morgan – were operating out of an unused unit in Salford Shopping Centre. The collective, who have backgrounds ranging from set design to AV engineering, we’re using the space as a test bed for their creations. The new space at Depot Mayfield is the culmination of their efforts.
Approaching the space from Piccadilly, you can’t miss the larger-than-life ‘Supermassive’ sign above the entrance. You then climb two flights of stairs and emerge out onto the industrial roof terrace. The building was a railway yard back in the early 20th Century, which in more recent years has become a location for raves, open air cinema screenings, and food festivals. Today though you’re greeted with a perplexing water fountain, seating huts, and a cafe and bar. A more central and expansive roof terrace we couldn’t think of.
When you enter into the experience, which is not a trail but a series of interlinking space-y zones, you’re met with all manner of neon, and soundtrack of oddly soothing ‘bleep bloops’. A gentle, automated voice announces how you are encouraged to engage with each piece, but essentially the rules are ‘just go for it’.
There’s ‘Mirror.AI’, an AI-generated ‘reflection’ of yourself which responds to your spoken commands, and turns your likeness into whatever your imagination can conjure, like baked beans or spicy margaritas or a pigeon made of oats.
There’s a ‘Augmented Reality Topographical Sandpit’, which is Supermassive’s take on a buddhist zen garden. You can create your own valleys and hills, and a multicolour light map will respond in real-time to the changes you make to the landscape. It’s a particularly addictive one, and not just for kids.
Elsewhere, there’s a lab, where you use Steampunk-esque tools to create unearthly shades of liquid like violet and acid yellow. There are pieces that visualise sound in interesting ways, and of course there’s a hall of mirrors too.
Blending science with creative flair, you absolutely don’t have to be a kid to enjoy this.
Supermassive at Depot Mayfield is open now.
Read more:
Lina Stores comes to Manchester
Tony Wilson archive to be revealed for the first time
‘Cultural playground’ comes to Stockport
