Nike is a sports apparel and shoe brand recognised by millions all over the world. To celebrate their football innovations, Nike created an art gallery called Hypersense: The Art & Science of Football Innovation at the iconic Marina Bay Sands, particularly the ArtScience Museum, in May 2014. Out of curiosity, I decided to make a visit to the gallery as it was free and I was amazed by the various exhibits shown at the gallery. Here's a closer look at what you might have missed during Hypersense.
What is Hypersense: The Art & Science of Football Innovation?
The main aim of the gallery was to showcase the science and innovation behind their famous Nike shoes in an interactive way that's sure to attract the attention of visitors. Avid football fans would surely like the exhibition as the gallery contained a lot of football imagery and theme throughout. There were also many interactive elements to the gallery as well which I will share with you later. Hypersense was held at the iconic ArtScience Museum at the Marina Bay Sands in May 2014, making it the ideal location to showcase the innovations.
Pieces of Art Seen Everywhere
In the Hypersense gallery, there were loads of beautiful art pieces which were placed around the gallery to give it that 'art and science' feeling to all the visitors. As it was the ArtScience Museum whose galleries have a recurring art and science theme, it's no surprise that Nike wants to present their science and innovation as art as well. The art pieces really captured a lot of the visitors' attention judging from the amount of people taking numerous photos of them.
A Sensory Experience At Hypersense
The whole gallery had dim lighting to make the gallery an immersive experience for the visitors. A lot of the rooms were dark and some of the shoes on display had that cool 'glow in the dark' effect. Plus, some soft music were played over the speakers to really give that environmental feeling that can only be described and felt when you're really there at the gallery.
Videos and Interactive Installations
Videos and interactive installations were placed strategically all over which visitors could view them to find out more about Nike's creations and what goes into them. They could also take a look at the videos about the development process and technology used in Nike's past, present and future products. The interactive touchscreens made the experience much more interactive and exciting for the visitors..
This is a great way to learn more about Nike's history and how much dedication they put into their products for the benefit of the consumers. Nike's products are also worn by sports legends around the world as well so it's no surprise that they put in a lot of effort into their research and development.
Trying On Nike's Products
Nike even set up a corner where visitors could try some of their future products as well especially their new soccer cleats, the Nike Mercurial Superfly which sports legends like Cristiano Ronaldo has worn before. The shoes look very stylish and although I did not try them on personally, the soccer cleats proved to be quite popular among the visitors who tried them on.
The soccer cleats can be considered a gem by Nike due to the numerous technology that's included in them like carbon fibre plates and direct inject blades. All these technology help the football players improve their ability and accuracy on the playing fields while providing comfort to them at the same time.
Numerous Football-Related Designs All Around
At another part of the gallery, Nike designed their gallery with lots of football-related designs all over. As it's an art gallery, it's no surprise to come across all these when I was walking around. The designs were remarkable and created by talented artists all over the world. Some of them contain actual logos of football clubs around the world which were modified to look more modern and artistic.
Another unique thing at this part of the gallery was that the entrance looked like a real life brightly-lit maze so you had to go through them before entering to this part of the gallery. Small details like these definitely made the experience a much more memorable and worthwhile experience.
Nike-Designed Football Jerseys On Display
Football fans would love this. There were plenty of football jerseys of different football clubs around the world on display. Try to see if you can recognise which football clubs these jerseys belong to! The jerseys that were on display were made by Nike and consists of technology Nike developed to make the jerseys comfortable and that can give the footballers a competitive edge over other football players. Most of them had great aesthetics as well. Who says that form and function can't come together?
The Foosball Corner
One part of the gallery that I really enjoyed the most was the foosball corner. Foosball, also known as table soccer, allows you to play a miniaturised version of football and you can control the football players twisting the long rods at the sides of the table to make them 'kick' the mini soccer ball. It was very fun and many people were enjoying their time playing with the foosball tables. The addition of the tables certainly made the gallery even more fun.
The UV Light Room
There were plenty of rooms in the gallery where you could view the history of Nike and the contributions that Nike has done over the past years to the sporting industry. However, there was one room that caught my attention. I'm not entirely sure what was the official name for the room but I call it 'The UV Light Room'.
The room was very dark but was lit by UV lights which I don't think I want to explain what it is because it may be too lengthy. Basically, what it does is that they give the impression that everything and everyone in the room were 'glowing' in the dark. It was really very cool and if you were to have some article of clothing that was bright, the 'glow' was even more outstanding.
More Pieces of Standout Art
There were more art pieces than one could have imagined at the Hypersense gallery. Here are some more pictures of the standout art that I think you should take a look at. Even the official gallery guide has this cool-looking artwork drawn that only a talented artist could pull off. Like I said earlier, these small little details definitely made the trip to this gallery a more memorable and a worthwhile one.
Conclusion
Overall, it was good experience checking out the Hypersense gallery by Nike. I certainly learnt a lot and they really invested a lot to make their products very robust, useful and effective although they do come with a hefty price tag. The gallery itself was truly amazing. It was a great sensory experience and I could see that they really put in a lot of effort to make the gallery very exciting and memorable for the visitors.
I especially love the foosball tables and the dark UV Light room. One thing that surprised me even more was that Nike offered to make the gallery free for all which was unusual as most of the time, galleries in the ArtScience Museum mostly charged admission fees to get in. I can certainly say that I had a great time during my time at Hypersense and I hope more galleries like this can open again, for free, in the future.
More Information
Nike Hypersense Website: http://www.eventfinda.sg/2014/nike-hypersense-the-art-science-of-modern-football/singapore/marina-bay