Bow out or Bow down before David Bowie?

“David Bowie is making himself up.”

Walking through the V&A’s latest sellout exhibition David Bowie Is, the secret to its subject’s longevity becomes increasingly apparent. The vast and varied assortment of objects, sounds and visuals reveal that Bowie was an unrivalled master of adaptation; a cultural chameleon, able to preempt the changing faces of music and fashion across the last four decades.

Yet having ogled at over three hundred Bowie curiosities a question arises – what is it all about? Springsteen captures the voice of blue-collar America, The Stones deliver untempered Rock n’Roll to the masses and, The Beatles – even whilst revolutionizing modern music – offer melancholic reflections on love, loss and loneliness, but David Bowie… David Bowie is.

Bowie once described himself as a ‘human Xerox machine’ and his constant reinvention, when presented like this in a single setting, feels like an overwhelming postmodern collage. The sheer weight of material makes the retrospective, which purports to ‘offer insight,’ strangely impersonal. One feels that the curators set out to please everyone, offering an abundance of stimuli that, despite entertaining and enthralling, fails to penetrate its subject.

However, personal reservations aside, this is not one to miss. In terms of presentation, David Bowie Is is comparable to his Diamond Dogs stage show – a visual and aural spectacular. Apart from the installation itself the V&A, in association with 59 Productions (responsible for the video design at the London 2012), have nailed the audio experience: a potential pitfall when dealing with a musical icon. As you walk from room to room and from era to era, the soundtrack, which is fed to you via headphones, changes to suit your surroundings and often syncs with the visuals (dazzling your ears with technical wizardry).

In conclusion, if you are a fan of David Bowie then this is the ultimate supplement. You will scrutinize the handwritten lyrics, lust after the Ziggy Stardust bodysuits and marvel at the forty-foot projection of Bowie in concert (the exhibition’s highlight), before treating yourself to a beautiful coffee table book (£30), a commemorative poster (£4) and/or a novelty eraser (£1.50). Nevertheless, the man adorning your bedroom wall and singing from your stereo remains a mystery: a being in search of meaning.

Though I guess that’s adolescence…

‘David Bowie is’ will be showing at the Victoria and Albert Museum until 11 August 2013.