Utter filth

Back in January, we reported on the Wellcome Trust’s filthy plans for its exhibition Dirt, which has been designed by Carmody Groarke with graphics by A Practice For Everyday Life (DW 27 January).

The exhibition, which opens tomorrow, will bring together 200 artifacts from visual art, documentary photography, cultural ephemera, scientific artifacts, film and literature to uncover ’a rich history of disgust and delight’ in the subject of dirt, according to the Wellcome Collection.

Filth Fair
Filth Fair

As part of the exhibition, Central Illustration Agency’s Mike Wilks was commissioned to create an incredibly detailed – and dirty – painting that has been turned into a digital game by Toytek.

The game, called Filth Fair, tasks players to identify more than 300 different forms of dirt hidden within the picture. Some of them are obvious, but others are a lot more cryptic, and will no doubt be easier to find after a visit to the exhibition.

Mike Wilks and his Filth Fair Painting
Mike Wilks and his Filth Fair painting

It’s a captivating image that you could pore over for hours, even without the competitive element, and a great way to get people engaged with the exhibition’s theme and objects.

And if that wasn’t good enough already, the Wellcome Trust has also produced this video that explains the process behind the game, which features interviews with Toytek and Wilks himself.

Don’t have an iPad? You can play the game online here.

Dirt runs from 24 March – 31 August at the Wellcome Collection, Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road
London NW1.

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