New Exhibition Spotlights the History and Trajectory of the Email

Unless you live far removed from society, email has become an almost unavoidable form of communication that sparks equal parts excitement and dread on a daily basis. Regardless of your stance, there is a new exhibition that seeks to examine the impact email has had on society.

Made in collaboration between popular marketing platform Mailchimp and the Design Museum in London, Email is Dead retraces the messaging tool to its early beginnings in the 1970s to a projection of what the email will perhaps be like in 2070. “As its design and function have evolved, email has outlived cultural movements, technological hardware and countless trends, proving not only its cultural relevance but also its functionality that continues to stand the test of time,” according to a release by Mailchimp.

Infinitely more playful than the average experience of sending out an email, the exhibition features a number of immersive environments that invites visitors to interact with installations, such as the “email time capsule”, “inbox elixer”, “email therapy machine” and even an “email personality test”, which as its title implies, determines the type of emailer you are.

“With this exhibition, we’ll present a life-sized reminder of how distinctive, powerful, and indispensable email is to life as we know it [...] ultimately answering a question we are often asked: Is email dead? Not even close,” said Mailchimp’s CMO, Michelle Taite, in a statement.

Email is Dead will go on view at the Design Museum in London from September 28 to October 22.

Elsewhere, Zaha Hadid Architects Daxia Tower to become landmark of Xi’an.

Design Museum
224–238 Kensington High Street
London W8 6AG