When was the last time you held a photograph in your hand, or wrote a letter to someone, with a pen and paper? The answer is probably that you can’t remember, such has been the sea-change in our habits since the advent of the digital age. Photos, diaries, letters are all now deconstructed into zeroes and ones, stored on magnetic disks or microchips to be instantly reconstructed at the click of a mouse or the swipe of a finger.

Crystal makers Swarovski have commissioned a number of artists to explore the future of memory in the digital age for their Digital Crystal exhibition at the Design Museum. Are we in danger of losing touch with the tangible as the virtual world takes over? Among the artists examining this issue are Ron Arad, whose eye-catching creation Lolita fuses the ornately functional and tactile chandelier with the information of a dot matrix message board. Illuminating.

Thought Cloud by Maarten Baas for Swarovski
Image courtesy of David Levene

Blur by Philippe Malouin for Swarovski
Image courtesy of David Levene

Osmosis Interactive Arena by Arik Levy for Swarovski
Image courtesy of David Levene

Wrapping Crystal by Anton Alvarez for Swarovski
Image courtesy of David Levene

Hardcoded Memory by Troika for Swarovski

Amplify by Yves Behar for Swarovski
Image courtesy of David Levene

Lolita by Ron Arad for Swarovski
Image courtesy of David Levene

Crystallize by Paul Cocksedge for Swarovski
Image courtesy of David Levene

Holo Center Table by Marcus Tremonto for Swarovski
Image courtesy of David Levene