From Les Deux Magots in Paris to New York’s Studio 54, the bar and club scene has long held fertile ground for the creatives among us. Whether your inspiration is music, literature, film or the fine arts, you may well find your muse in one of these 10 Chicago bars.
Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to creating a successful ad campaign. Ideas, trends, insights, data. Keep your finger on the pulse of everything with this curated list of industry blogs.
If you’re in marketing, the augmented and virtual reality experience may seem a bit old hat by now. But the virtual revolution is taking a new shape - thanks to the ever transforming capabilities of our mobile devices.
As we bid adieu to 2017, we’re taking a look back at some of the years’ biggest trends in experiential marketing and creative strategy – none of which are expected to disappear anytime soon.
“Good artists copy, great artists steal,” Pablo Picasso famously stated. A great quote, but when it comes to great art, where does the line fall between copying, reimagining, and stealing? Basically the same thing, right? Whether a subtle nod to an artists’ muse or the more outspoken and obvious repurposing of creative content, the undertone of flattery is inherent. While “copying” may force artists, audiences and historians to question the validity or originality of a piece of work, it is an equal display of admiration and respect.
Experiential art connects viewers to one another and to the work itself in ways that surround, captivate and fascinate - producing experiences that are anything but ordinary. It was only a matter of time before the advertising industry jumped on board. “I believe art is a bottomless pit to be used for experiential inspiration. It allows advertisers and brands to behave badly or strangely and with a shrug of the shoulders say 'it's art',” explains Campaign. For art purists, that may be an uncomfortable line of thought. For agency executives, it’s a line of thought that works.
Real-time art merges with historical archive in Emily Spivack’s An archive of everything worn to MoMA from November 1, 2017, to January 28, 2018 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Asking museum-goers to text a list of what they or someone around them is wearing at the time of their visit, Spivack projects the descriptions in various locations throughout the museum. Once completed, the project will capture “an impression of a specific period of time at the Museum through vernacular descriptions of clothed bodies.” In essence, Spivack achieves exactly what a painting might do—seizing a specific, self-contained moment, recording it for posterity.
In what might be the most significant attempt by a major museum to tackle the subject of gender fluidity in contemporary art, Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon opened last month on September 27th at the New Museum. The exhibition gives voice to over 40 intergenerational and multi-disciplinary artists investigating “gender’s place in contemporary art and culture at a moment of political upheaval and renewed culture wars.” The collective work explores “gender beyond the binary to usher in more fluid and inclusive expressions of identity.”
A sea of viewers sits quietly enthralled, while a company of actors, established in their world of illusion, make believe they’re not there at all. An imaginary barrier that exists between actors and audiences in theatrical performance, the fourth wall carves out space for realism in a fictional world. But not only is the fourth wall being broken, but theater is on the move, traveling between spaces and city blocks, taking audiences along for the ride. This is immersive theater, and then some.
Saks Fifth Avenue and ex-cons. An uncomfortable partnership? Maybe. But then again ...Ex-con Coss Marte is CEO and founder of ConBody, a prison-like boot camp that is now part of the recently launched Saks Wellery, a 16,600-square-foot health and fitness brand experience popup. At the heart of the Saks Wellery is the concept of wellness as the new luxury.