Nostalgic or self-indulgent: Who is the new Daniel Johns exhibition for?

Down at the bottom of the Melbourne CBD there is now a building decked out in pink and black that calls to you like a siren. But is it worth going in? Well, that depends. How much do you already know about Daniel Johns?

Daniel Johns: Past, Present and FutureNever is by Daniel Johns for people who are already fans of Daniel Johns. If you don’t know much about him other than the smattering of images and the few bits of trivia that you absorb simply through having existed in Australia for a period of time, however, then the exhibition will not be much more than a nicely designed space full of cool-looking clothes and ephemera.

Guests in front of a giant Daniel Johns mural at the exhibit Past, Present and FutureNever in Melbourne.

The marketing copy surrounding the exhibition makes a lot of lofty claims about past and present and time travel and immersion but in reality it is simply a slickly designed retrospective of the iconic Australian singer and songwriter who rose to fame at 15 as part of the band Silverchair. Johns, now 43, continued with solo projects after the band went into “indefinite hibernation” in 2011 and has been candid about his mental health struggles and drink-driving charges, most recently through his 2021 podcast series Who is Daniel Johns? and a three-part documentary series on YouTube which has just released its first episode. There is also a short film in the works.

In Past, Present and FutureNever, every nook and cranny has been taken over and given a Daniel Johns theme (this includes the bathroom where doors and walls are adorned with his image). There are notebooks filled with his writing, newspaper articles about his marriage to Natalie Imbruglia, mannequins decked out in clothes from across his career, and even things like a 1984 class certificate for “Writing excellent stories”.

For fans, there are easter eggs and discoveries to be made everywhere. Rare set lists. T-shirts from his concerts. Instruments. At the preview, over the sound of Johns’ occasional narration and his music there were exclamations coming from all corners as those intimately familiar with his work came across curios and artefacts.

According to this 1984 report card included in the exhibition, Johns was adept at “writing excellent stories” from a young age.

There is also a custom DeLorean for some reason. It’s cool, but does it really need to be there? (This is a question that will come up more than once across the exhibition.) The DeLorean is perhaps to point to the time travel theme (due to its use in the Back to the Future franchise) which, while a good hook on paper, doesn’t really come through in any real way in the actual space beyond it being, quite literally, a look into Johns’ past by displaying his memorabilia.

Created by Johns in collaboration with Radio Velvet, who are best known for their work with brands including Disney, the exhibition itself is divided over multiple spaces. In the middle of the room is a grey-white pianola, which gives everything the aura of walking into an episode of Westworld from the get-go. One wall is filled with artworks of Johns and by Johns, which are available for purchase in the shop that is prominently located in the middle of the two-storey main exhibition area just a few metres away.

Just across from this is a room where a video is projected on all walls. It looks cool (it all looks cool), but one of the few signs in the space declares that it is dedicated to the question “What if the future never happened?” describing it as “a grunge, sci-fi short adventure inspired by the pop culture Daniel was immersed in before a curious case of child stardom.” This video will apparently be updated across the exhibition and the sign encourages repeat visits.

Mannequins are dressed in recognisable outfits Johns has worn during his career.

But maybe now is the perfect time for a sprawling Daniel Johns-themed space where all knowledge about the musician is assumed and no context will be offered – because outside of the Rialto, where the exhibition is held, information about Johns is at an all-time high. The rest of the YouTube series will come out while the exhibition is on, the podcast was a huge hit and released less than a year ago, and there’s still the short film.

It’s a cleverly timed and highly coordinated series of moves, where the conversation is about Daniel Johns, steered by Daniel Johns, where candidness and neon-tinged nostalgia entwine.

Daniel Johns: Past, Present and FutureNever is a ticketed event that opens today and runs until October 9, 2022.

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