Steeped in grunge nostalgia, the exhibition explores intimate musings from the artist’s adolescent diary, original handwritten lyrics of global hits including ‘Freak’ and ‘Tomorrow’, before being whisked away to tomorrow and beyond.
Silverchair legend Daniel Johns has extended his ‘world first’ immersive exhibition, ‘Past, Present & FutureNever’, in Melbourne due to overwhelming demand.
The ground-breaking art experience landed in Melbourne back in August and was due to finish up on October 9, however will now run until December 23. Exploring the height of ‘90s Australian grunge culture through to Johns’ history-making album ‘FutureNever’, the showcase unlocks the vault of personal memorabilia from the rockstar and introduces an array of experiential exhibits from the future.
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‘Past, Present & FutureNever’ sees Australia’s most innovative record label BMG and award-winning exhibition creators Radio Velvet join forces with pioneering artist Johns to deliver a new experience defying convention and boundaries.
In a takeover of Melbourne’s landmark Rialto skyscraper, the exhibition brings the creative genius of Daniel Johns to life, as his enchanting, and often haunting, vision is explored and curated through not only a treasure trove of memorabilia, but multiple interactive instalments including a custom DeLorean (aka ‘DanieLorean’) transformed by a ‘FutureNever’ soundscape synchronised with projection mapping and an eery live pianola experience.
A host of creative collaborators join feature on this journey, including mega mural artist Adnate with an emotional portrait of Johns looking to the future, yet reflecting on the ‘Frogstomp’ era through his eyes, and in-demand street artist Claire Foxton with a portrayal of a youthful Dan brimming with teen angst as he climbs the ladder in the music industry, along with work from Celeste Mountjoy, George Rose, Travis Price and more.
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Alongside news of the extension, Daniel Johns acclaimed second solo album FutureNever has gone back to Number One on the ARIA Albums Chart for a second time this year, smashing the record books and becoming the HIGHEST SELLING 2022 album release by an Australian artist on the ARIA chart.
FutureNever is also the ONLY Australian album to spend 2 weeks at Number One with an all-time record 22-week gap between podium appearances. During its run to date, it has remained a popular constant fixture including three weeks in the Top 3, a month in the Top 5 and six weeks in the Top 10 since release on April 22, 2022. It’s also been in the ARIA Top 20 for a staggering eleven weeks.
“To have FutureNever go to #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart twice in 2022 and spend 6 weeks in the ARIA Top 10 is amazing,” Johns says.
“Thank you to the incredible people who worked on this album with me and a very special thank you to everyone who has listened to FutureNever and helped spread the word. For an album with no singles and no music videos, I’m truly grateful that the music is speaking for itself.”
No other Australian album has dominated the Australian Charts like FutureNever, a feat made even more impressive given Johns has not played a live show and has done minimal traditional press to promote the album.
Instead, Johns has leaned on the unconventional and blazed a new trail, starting with his global smash Spotify original podcast ‘Who Is Daniel Johns?’ which became the biggest Australian podcast of 2021, before building his own immersive art exhibition ‘Past, Present & FutureNever’ and finally announcing a forthcoming ‘grunge sci-fi’ featurette ‘What If The Future Never Happened?’ which will premiere later this year.
“The FutureNever multi-verse has provided me with a vast canvas to create immersive experiences that transcend a traditional release campaign. I wanted to show artists that there was a better way to do it than a desperate chase for a fleeting viral trend. I didn’t ever set out to have a ‘chart hit’ with FutureNever but I thought if I did the opposite of what the traditional music industry said I should do, there might just be something in that.”
See ‘Past, Present & FutureNever’ at Rialto Melbourne (525 Collins Street) with tickets on-sale now here.
