New Work: The Everythingists by Es Devlin

In Gallery 2 at Storehouse, visitors encounter The Everythingists by Es Devlin: a 15-metre-wide illuminated sculpture that brings together dancing figures, architectural forms, light, sound and voice. The commission began in 2022 with an invitation to create a new work that could respond to Natalia Goncharova’s vast theatrical backcloth The Firebird, V&A East Storehouse, and east London. From these starting points, Devlin developed a work that considers east London through the relationship between bodies, movement and the structures that shape everyday life. In dialogue with The Firebird Alongside the V&A East seasonal theme Making East London, Goncharova’s The Firebird became an important point of departure for Devlin’s work. Goncharova’s 15-metre-wide painted backcloth was made for Sergei Diaghilev’s 1926 Ballets Russes production of The Firebird. The ballet was choreographed by Mikhail Fokine and set to Igor Stravinsky’s 1910 score. Designed for the stage, the backcloth was originally intended to be seen from a distance. At V&A East Storehouse, visitors encounter it up close, almost as if from backstage. This shift in perspective became part of the context in which Devlin developed her own work. The painted houses and clustered forms within Goncharova’s backcloth also informed Devlin’s thinking. They suggested ways in which human life is framed by the spaces around it, an idea Devlin carried into the sculptural language of The Everythingists. Bodies, boxes and technology The sculptural forms in The Everythingists bring together several references: the painted architecture of The Firebird, the storage systems of V&A East Storehouse, the urban fabric of east London, and the packaging of contemporary consumer technology, including iPhones and iPads. The work also draws on the technological aspirations of the early 20th century, including ideas expressed in Natalia Goncharova and Mikhail Larionov’s 1913 Rayonist Manifesto. Devlin connects these histories of light, movement and modernity to contemporary debates around technology and artificial intelligence, including science fiction writer Cory Doctorow’s distinction between “centaurs”, humans empowered by machines, and “reverse-centaurs”, machines empowered by humans. By bringing these references together, Devlin connects historical stage design with present-day questions around progress, desire and dependency. The work reflects on the promises and limits of technological development, and on the ways human bodies are increasingly shaped by the systems and devices around them. Youth Collective A key moment in the development of The Everythingists came through Devlin’s exchange with V&A East Youth Collective. Devlin shared an earlier version of the work with the group, in which the figures were more tightly held within the box-like forms. Their conversation challenged her to think further about borders, porosity and escape, and to reconsider how the figures should relate to the structures around them. This exchange led to a significant shift in the final work. The figures became more dynamic: no longer held so tightly within the surrounding forms, but appearing to push against, move through and break beyond the structures. Collaboration: light, sound and sequence Time is also central to the commission. Like much of Devlin’s work, The Everythingists is not static. Every 90 seconds, the sculpture is illuminated in sequence, accompanied by Devlin’s recorded voice reading a series of texts over a soundtrack composed by Polyphonia. The composition is rooted in the horn solo from the finale of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Devlin’s work often emerges through collaboration, and The Everythingists is no exception. Creating this animated experience required close collaboration between Devlin’s studio, the V&A East team, the sound studio, the sculpture fabricators, AV and lighting specialists. The illumination, soundtrack and sculptural build all had to be carefully planned together so that the final work could operate as a timed, immersive sequence within the gallery. A space for reflection As a final gesture, a row of benches has been placed at the centre of Gallery 2. From here, visitors can sit between Goncharova’s The Firebird and Devlin’s The Everythingists, turning from one work to the other. This simple arrangement changes the pace of the gallery. It invites visitors to pause, listen, and spend time with the relationship between the two works. Together, the works create a conversation across time. The Everythingists responds to The Firebird not as a fixed historic reference, but as part of the living context of the gallery. It extends questions of movement, transformation and constraint into the present, asking how bodies move through systems, how creativity emerges from limits, and how East London continues to be shaped by imagination, labour, architecture and change Production credits Sound design and composition Polyphonia (Jade Pybus and Andy Theakstone) Featured dancer Joshua Shanny-Wynter, choreographed by Botis Seva Lead Associate Designer for Es Devlin Studio: Zoe Diakaki Associate Designer for Es Devlin Studio: Anna Niamh Gorman Creative production by Jo Mackay Lighting installation and programming by Richard Williamson and Sysco Fabrication by Scena With special thanks to the V&A East Youth Collective for their feedback and creative input The idea of mixing theatre, sculpture, sound, and architecture is fascinating. @hypackel game