REVIEW: Celebrating 25 Years of Gorillaz: An Immersive Exhibit at Brooklyn’s Agger Fish Building
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY ISABELLA APPELL ☆
SPOILERS AHEAD—Gorillaz has taken over Brooklyn's Agger Fish Building with an immersive exhibition ahead of the band's headlining show at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 29. Developed by the studio SWEAR, the exhibition opened Sept. 1 and runs through Sept. 28.
Created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz is made up of four animated members: 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs. The exhibition catalogues 25 years of the band and gives New Yorkers a behind-the-scenes look at its virtual universe, from original sketches to replicas of the band's recording studio and trailer, plus a 3D model of Plastic Beach.
Fans are greeted by staff at the door, who place a red sticker over each phone's camera for the length of the visit, making it a phone-free experience. Visitors then move through the rooms in small groups, led by an audio guide. The full experience takes about 60 to 90 minutes, depending on how long you want to linger.
I'd listened to Gorillaz before coming, but nothing could have prepared me for the world I was about to enter. After stickering my phone, three other people and I were greeted by a "Reject False Icons" sign before stepping into a dark hallway lined with black sheets. A woman's voice began the tour, a spotlight clicked on, and the "Miscreation Wall," covered in past magazine covers, came into view. From Time Out to Dazed, the covers show how big a mark Gorillaz has made. What most people don't realize, though, is how much work went into getting there.
The walls were lined with sketches of Murdoc's 1984 Winnebago, from the skull ashtray to the cross by the bed, along with characters that didn't make the cut: the pieces Gorillaz "built layer by layer," taking the outside world and making it their own. The room also held "Feel Good Inc." storyboards, annotated lyrics and an early rough cut of the "Clint Eastwood" music video.
When a technical error interrupted the video, a staff member led us to the assembly point, which “happened” to be right by the band's trailer. Just as promised, an oddly endearing smell of socks, dog and...feet filled the air. Air fresheners hung from the ceiling, and the attention to detail was a Gorillaz fan's dream: a Black Sabbath poster, a spider in a jar, an "Alfred E. Neuman for President" poster, a skull candle and fist stickers, all giving a peek into the band's backstage world.
As we sat on the couch taking in the walls, a door to the right slid open, leading us through a half bathroom and into a recording booth. Inside were Pazuzu's drum kit, Murdoc's pink bass guitar and Noodle's acoustic guitar from the "El Mañana" video, complete with its Betty Boop sticker. After a surprise appearance from a DJ and a quick singalong, the tour moved on to a room with a brown leather couch, a white sherpa rug and shelves lined with gorilla action figures and an old music machine.
The next stop was a backstage shrine to the band, where a "Please Kneel" sign sat beneath a blown glass wall asking visitors to "confess to sins of self love." The wardrobe room came next, an ode to the '90s and to fashion across the decades. Roller skates, a pink spacesuit, heatless curls, neon pink sunglasses and a yellow "It's Not Rael" shirt were displayed like relics, yet they looked as if the band had just tossed them aside after a show.
"Lost and found is closer than you think," a voice teased as we moved on.
Then came the lost and found. An ominous security guard sat in a swivel chair, watching wrestling on a mini TV surrounded by old security footage. He told us to hand over the package: a UPS envelope holding a DVD, which the staff member at the front desk had politely asked us to drop off at lost and found because she couldn't leave her post. The TV then switched to an old music video showing an orange mountain, and it was our "time to return" home.
The audio guide then let us peel the stickers off our phones and sent us into Plastic Beach, home to the original model of the island, complete with tiny trees, beach chairs and a miniature lighthouse. Near the end, we reached the screening room, a comfortable space with benches and beanbag chairs. It served as a 20 to 30-minute rest stop, playing behind-the-scenes footage of the band filming past shows and music videos.
At this point, all I could think was that this was something AI could never replicate. We heard that "the end was near," yet an archive of voices from those who have passed on guided us toward the band's latest chapter, The Mountain, urging us to defy death and insisting this was not an ending but a new beginning. Finally, we "journey'd forward" to the merch room, where Gorillaz gear awaited: records, hoodies, stickers, posters and more.
The immersive exhibition runs through Sept. 28, with tickets starting at $50, available online. Whether you're a die-hard Gorillaz fan or just want to see how an entire virtual world gets made, this is one event to catch.
