Detroit Rock
N' Fashion:
A Virtual Art Exhibit
N' Fashion:
A Virtual Art Exhibit
In creating a virtual art gallery I also needed a virtual art exhibit to promote it. But I wanted more than just a slideshow of pics of paintings. A hologram would be cool. Something 4-dimensional? Well, maybe 4d as a metaphor.
Upon deciding what and how, I was also examining the artists in the Gallery of the Arts roster. On one hand, I had two very distinguished groups: upcoming and established urban artists, and retirees as artists. Both extremely talented in their spheres. But what theme? A contrast of the two types? Then on the other hand I noticed a number of artists were in involved in Detroit rock. Interesting... but, not quite enough for an exhibit. Almost... maybe. Then I noticed several of the artists were also models. Very interesting— and a nice mashup with rock! Got it. Detroit
I conceived, designed and built Detroit
The presentation was of course accessible on The Gallery of the Arts website, as well as one its own for SEO purposes. It was also designed to be able to drop and play on any other website, another gallery, an art organization or anywhere. Detroit
Four dimensional? Certainly metaphorically. Because not only is the presentation multimedia with pics, music and interaction, it goes multi-dimensional with the artists—showcasing not only their art and bio, but mashes their other livlihood into the mix, and then mashes them all together. The music, all Detroit rock from bands great and unknown, from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and new millennial, from a wide range of genres mashed togther. I acquired permissions for the songs and all the photos used, which entailed tracking down numerous photographers and artists. Everyone graciously gave permissions. I developed some very good relationships and respect with a wide number of artists, muscicans, photographers and the Detroit music industry in so doing.
The presentation starts with a rapid display of artwork from the DRNF artists to the beat of the band Detroit's Rock N' Roll, then segues into scenes from Detroit and The Howling Diablos' There's Nobody In Detroit. Then each artist is presented one after the other, first, of them in a display of their night jobs then mixing in their art. Clicking on any piece of art launches said art in the Gallery of the Arts' artist gallery with full information and purchase options. Each sequence is driven by music from that musician or representative of the models. Off the 3d plane into the 4th. Afterward there are static screens to view all the DRNF artwork, a music player to play all the songs in their entirety, a photo gallery displaying all the photos used and crediting all the photographers, and a video gallery for the viewers to get a bit more intimate with the musicians.
This multimedia, multi-purpose, multi-dimensional project introduced all kinds of connections and opened some interesting doors. It showed in numerous kinds of venues and was presented in a myriad of ways. It was a great project to explore new things, meet new people, develop new relationships, establish new contacts and step into a whole new industry. One that has proved to be profitable not only as a vehicle to promote The Gallery of the Arts and the select artists, but also in my main livlihood. The connections are priceless. Having the launch and a physical exhibit at uDetroit Cafe placed me there quite a bit and the development of a good relationship with the owners. The place was really quite innovative. There was a recording studio upstairs, the bottom floor was the cafe serving specialty coffees, alcohol, and food from Detroit Seafood next door. uDetroit Cafe ran live Web TV shows all afternoon and evening. Regular daily shows, weekly shows, interview shows, music shows, sports shows. Very fun stuff. One of my DRNF artists Chizzy and I realized if we came up with something new and entertaining we have a very cool venue to get creative. We did. And then after that, Detroit Rock N' Fashion arose in yet another dimension... as a live Web TV show.
