Notes from Camp (AKA Transdimensional Ghost Town Discotheque)

July 2016

NOTES FROM CAMP is a multimedia site-specific installation by Bay Area artist Torreya Cummings on view near the entrance to the Gallery of California Art at the Oakland Museum of California. The goal for this space (one of the first encountered by visitors when the enter the gallery) is to create a unique, multi-sensory immersive experience that will inspire visitors to explore new ways of thinking about and experiencing art in a museum setting.

I designed the acknowledgements / credits panel for the installation.

Graphic Design

IN GALLERY

In Torreya's installation, a disco appears in the darkened corner where an abandoned country shack butts against a cave. It is lit from within by both LED lights and images of sparkly phenomena from nature: sunlight on the surface of water, schools of shiny fish, crystals of ice and brilliant minerals. This piece blurs the boundaries between natural and unnatural, city and country, camping and campy. It is an homage to all things queer and sparkly. It is truly immersive and transdimensional; weathered and intriguing on the outside but very very shiny and twinkly and reflective on the inside.

Torreya contacted me directly to request that I design the acknowledgements / credits panel for her installation. She was inspired by newspaper advertisements and broadsides of the late 19th and early 20th century. Knowing my penchant for typographic history, she provided me with some examples, and I set about researching the typefaces that would realize her vision for the panel. The result was a labor of love.

Once again, Walden Font Company prove to be an excellent resource.