- National Science and Media Museum to unveil its most cutting-edge experience yet, inviting visitors to ‘come and see what you’re made of’
- Created for Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture by Marshmallow Laser Feast
- Booking now, opens 3 April
Open to the public Thursday 3 April – Sunday 22 Feb 2026, YOU:MATTER is a spectacular immersive installation at the National Science and Media Museum created by renowned artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF), commissioned for Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. Visitors can take an unforgettable trip discovering their connection to the universe, exploring the web of relationships that bond people and the natural world together.
YOU:MATTER inspires visitors to explore how everything in our universe can be traced back to the same cosmic explosion. This experience shows the Big Bang wasn’t just a one-time thing – it’s still banging, right at the heart of Bradford and coursing through us and our surroundings. From the stars above to each living cell, the technologies behind this extraordinary experience make the invisible visible. The installation playfully shows how each ingredient of life, large or small, is constructed from the same basic building blocks as our universe. As their journey unfolds, visitors see how the human body is inextricably linked to water, air and sunlight through the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.
These ideas come to life through a series of immersive sound and video installations, revealing the deep connections between our bodies, the planet and the wider universe. Visitors shift perspectives—from witnessing the Earth breathing through data from NASA to following the journey of a single drop of water. Interactive installations invite audiences to breathe life into a digital forest, while a playful selfie station places them within the vast web of biodiversity. These powerful combinations of immersive sound, video and real-time interactivity reflect the National Science and Media Museum's mission to explore how media and technology shape our understanding of the world—making the invisible, visible.
Marshmallow Laser Feast believe in the power of stories to tickle senses and shift perceptions. Blurring the boundaries between art, immersive experiences, XR and film, their work takes people on multisensory journeys where imagination and information collide. Their work is grounded in research and designed to carve out space to expose, explore and expand our relationship with the living world. They have exhibited internationally at institutions including; ACMI, Barbican Centre, YCAM, DDB Seoul, Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Factory International, Quartier des Spectacles, SXSW, Saatchi Gallery and Lisbon Architectural Triennale.
Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director at Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture said: "We're pleased to be collaborating with the National Science and Media Museum and Marshmallow Laser feast on this exciting and thought-provoking installation that invites audiences to discover the profound connections between the universe and everyday life. Through immersive technology and Marshmallow Laser Feast's innovative thinking, YOU:MATTER is the story of Bradford’s people and their place in the cosmos."
Commenting on the installation, Jo Quinton-Tulloch, Director at the National Science and Media Museum, says: “We are super excited to be launching YOU:MATTER, created especially for Bradford 2025. This amazing digital experience takes visitors on an unforgettable journey to explore their connection to the cosmos. We hope it sparks curiosity and leaves people with a renewed sense of wonder about their place in the universe long after they leave.”
Robin McNicholas, Co-Founder and Creative Director, MLF, says: “YOU:MATTER is an invitation to see yourself as part of something vast—woven from the same cosmic fabric as the stars, the trees and the air we breathe. This experience reveals the hidden choreography of life's building blocks, from the atomic scale to the planetary. We want visitors to feel their connection to the past, present and future—not just as individuals, but as part of an ongoing story that stretches across time and space. YOU:MATTER is a reminder that you are not separate from the cosmos, but an extension of its story.”
Editor’s Notes
A media pack of images can be downloaded here.
For more information and to book tickets, please visit our website.
Further press information
For further information, interviews, images and details about a national press launch / press trip on 2 April, please contact:
Alice Browne, Senior Press Officer, NSMM
Alice.Browne@ScienceAndMediaMuseum.org.uk / +44 (0)1274203355
Sophia Hammond, Senior Publicist, Margaret (MLF PR agency) sophia@margaretlondon.com / +44 (0)7983 263326
About Marshmallow Laser Feast
Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) is an experiential artist collective. They believe in the power of stories to tickle senses and shift perceptions. Their work takes people on a multisensory journey to where imagination and information collide.
From coders to poets, chemists to ventriloquists, brands to institutions, MLF collaborate with specialists in all disciplines. To explore new forms of culture, interrogate our relationship with the world around us and leave a glittery slug trail as we journey through the cosmos.
MLF tell stories that untangle, entangle and flavour our reality, blurring the lines between art, immersive experiences, XR and film. Alive in galleries, museums, public spaces, parks, nature reserves and the metaverse, their work is grounded in research. Designed to carve out space to expose, explore and expand our relationship with the living world.
MLF has exhibited internationally at institutions including; ACMI, Barbican Centre, YCAM, DDB Seoul, Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Factory International, Quartier des Spectacles, SXSW, Phi Centre and Lisbon Architectural Triennale.
Their work has been featured in renowned publications such as; the Guardian, New Scientist, Wired, Independent, Creative Review and more.
@marshmallowlaserfeast
“[Marshmallow Laser Feast’s] cutting-edge work has mesmerised audiences across the globe, using immersive technology to deepen our understanding of, and connection to, the world around us.” – The Sydney Morning Herald
“Strange, transcendent and often profoundly moving” – The Times
“These projects zoom in on the natural world and provide a deeper understanding of the interconnections between ecology and humanity.” – Aesthetica Magazine
About the National Science and Media Museum
The National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, opened in 1983, and has since become one of the most visited UK museums outside London. It draws on more than three million objects from its national collection to explore the science and culture of image and sound technologies, and their impact on our lives.
The museum creates special exhibitions, interactive galleries and activities for families and adults, and is home to Pictureville, Yorkshire’s biggest independent cinema with three screens including Europe’s first IMAX and the only public Cinerama venue in the world.
The National Science and Media Museum reopened on 8 January 2025, following a £6m once in a generation transformation. The museum is open seven days a week, from 10.00–17.00. For more information and to book tickets, please visit our website.
Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
Bradford became the fourth UK City of Culture in January 2025. The district was selected by the UK Government in May 2022 from a record-breaking 20 bids, following Derry~Londonderry (2013), Hull (2017) and Coventry (2021) to take on one of the most prestigious and transformative titles in UK culture.
Bradford 2025 takes place throughout Bradford District, which covers 141 square miles across West Yorkshire. It features performances, exhibitions, events and activities inspired by the extraordinary variety of this landscape, from the city’s historic centre to the breathtaking countryside that surrounds it. It pays homage to Bradford’s potent heritage as everything from a former industrial powerhouse to the world’s first UNESCO City of Film. Most of all, it celebrates the people of Bradford, from local artists and creative organisations to the diverse communities who call Bradford home.
Bradford 2025 is created for, with and by the people of Bradford – and it has young people at its heart. With more than a quarter of its population aged under 20, Bradford is one of the UK’s youngest cities. Bradford 2025 is proudly reflecting this youth across all aspects of its programme, from education, skills and training projects to new artistic commissions centred on the lives, concerns and ambitions of young people today.
Bradford 2025 is set to spotlight Bradford’s dynamic contemporary arts and culture, from dance and theatre to film, music and even food. At the same time, it will cement Bradford’s reputation as one of the most welcoming places in the UK for artists, producers and creative entrepreneurs, with international exchanges, development programmes and new cultural investment benefiting the entire district.
The impact of UK City of Culture will continue long after the end of 2025. The district’s designation has already brought significant investment to the region, and Bradford 2025 is set to serve as a catalyst for development, regeneration and change – reshaping Bradford for the benefit of future generations.
Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture is supported using public investment from HM Government, Bradford Metropolitan District Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and through National Lottery funding from Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Lottery Community Fund, Spirit of 2012 as well as private investment and donations from a number of trusts, foundations and corporate sponsors.
