In an era where virtually every artwork can be viewed online with a simple click, art galleries continue to draw massive crowds, raising fundamental questions about what drives human behavior in our increasingly digital world. Damon Stapleton, Chief Creative Officer at Droga5 ANZ, recently explored this phenomenon during a visit to a packed Melbourne art gallery, leading him to profound insights about the future of human experience and creativity.

Stapleton's observations reveal a compelling dichotomy emerging in modern society. Despite the convenience of digital access to art, people continue making pilgrimages to physical galleries, driven by what he describes as an inherent "hunger to be astonished." This desire represents something deeper than mere convenience – it reflects humanity's fundamental need to encounter the unexpected, the unfiltered, and the genuinely surprising in an increasingly algorithmic world.

The resilience of physical art spaces became particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. While galleries and museums initially faced devastating closures, with nearly 70% reporting losses of more than half their annual visitors in 2020, the recovery has been remarkable. By 2023, analysis of the world's largest art museums showed visitor numbers returning to or exceeding pre-pandemic levels. In the United States, 33% of adults reported visiting a museum in 2024, slightly above pre-pandemic norms, demonstrating the enduring appeal of physical cultural experiences.

This phenomenon points to what Stapleton identifies as two distinct but interconnected worlds emerging in our future: the World of Information and the World of Experience. The World of Information encompasses the realm of instant, infinite, and optimized content – news feeds, algorithmic recommendations, streaming services, and virtual galleries. This world is data-driven, efficient, and omnipresent, serving as the primary operating system connecting billions of digital interactions.

In contrast, the World of Experience represents the realm of physical presence, tangible objects, genuine surprise, and authentic encounters. This includes art galleries, live concerts, bookshops, and theaters – spaces where people can say "I was there." These environments offer unpredictable elements that cannot be replicated digitally: the scale of a large canvas or installation, the context of being among other visitors within architectural spaces, and the serendipity of discovering something unexpected around the next corner.

The unique value of physical experiences lies in their ability to engage multiple senses simultaneously. Galleries provide what smartphones cannot: the smell of a historic building, the play of natural light across a painting's surface, the hushed conversations of other visitors, and the weight of standing before an original work. Time moves differently in these spaces, allowing visitors to exist fully in a moment rather than being connected to everywhere at once.

Stapleton argues that as digital systems become more sophisticated and pervasive, the human craving for authentic, unmediated experiences will only intensify. The stronger one world becomes, the more we will desire the other. This creates what he calls a "scarce currency" of experience that will hold enormous value in an information-saturated future.

The implications for creative industries are profound. While information can change how we think, experience changes us at a deeper, more fundamental level. Physical encounters become part of our personal narrative in ways that digital consumption cannot match. A conversation with a stranger about a painting, the texture of a book's pages, or the raw energy of a live performance creates lasting memories that travel with us, much like Ernest Hemingway's description of Paris as "a moveable feast."

This perspective suggests that creativity and culture will increasingly be valued not for their information content alone, but for their ability to create meaningful, transformative experiences. As Stapleton notes, the desire to be surprised and to encounter something "un-digitized" and "un-algorithmic" represents a fundamental human need that transcends technological advancement.

The future, according to this analysis, will not see the replacement of one world by another, but rather their coexistence in sometimes blurred, sometimes distinct spheres. Success in creative industries will depend on understanding when to leverage the efficiency and reach of the digital realm, and when to create the irreplaceable magic of physical, shared human experience. The art gallery, in this context, becomes not just a repository of culture, but a symbol of humanity's enduring need for authentic encounter in an increasingly virtual world.