London-based multidisciplinary artist Gary Alake Riley explores the relationship between brands, fashion, technology, big data, and youth culture as a highly sought-after market. His work questions whether the pressure to constantly upgrade and keep up is shaping a new kind of idealised young consumer. This hybrid figure, formed through branding, identity, belonging, and technology, is described as the “Cyber Yoot.”

Developed through B3 Media’s Talent Lab, Neon Billboard is an artistic concept in development for an immersive advertising screen and public-facing video installation. The project examines the commercial forces driving continual technological upgrades and trend adoption and their impact on young people navigating visibility, connection, and belonging within an increasingly mediated public space.

Inside the experience, reactions will differ. Some visitors may feel unsettled by how fashion and products designed to be plugged into the human body and embedded into the skin are presented as frictionless and desirable. Others may feel entertained by the immersive ad’s high-concept visuals, accepting this as the next stage in our growing intimacy with brands and technology. with comments like, “Of course we’re all heading toward branded cyborgs, and where can I get those boots?”

Neon Billboard ultimately asks whether, behind the advertising gloss and youth-focused branded cool, this future will empower us or erode our autonomy, and whether, distracted by the screen, we will even notice the moment that shift takes place.