Project Role: Co-Executive Producer
Dark Palace was conceived as a partnership with AEG in order to maximize each of our competencies and market positions. AEG led permitting, operations, and safety. We lead experience creation and its execution, branding, ad production, and socials. Booking and marketing was a collaboration.
We envisaged this as an event to work with local Denver and Colorado artists in a format similar to the permanent exhibition in Santa Fe. Our team worked with our director of artist curation and collaboration, Han Santana-Sayles, to bring on close to 20 different artists.
The visuals required the integration of lighting, lasers, fabrication, and video. Working individually the elements would distract from each other. Working together the stage design becomes emergent and participants enter their immersive flow.
The visuals required the integration of lighting, lasers, fabrication, and video. Working individually the elements would distract from each other. Working together the stage design becomes emergent and participants enter their immersive flow.
Originally, we’d planned on doing this event at the Sports Castle, a multilevel former car dealership from the 1950s. Due to capacity concerns though, we had to find a new venue. The National Western Complex Arena was an amazing venue for Dark Palace. The historic and cavernous building constructed from concrete with steel and wood beam ceilings created a dark, castle-like atmosphere that was perfect for users to explore and party in.
The event was also the pinnacle of a ‘buy’ decision, as it wasn’t feasible for us to design, fabricate, transport, and install our own works, especially given the time constraint. Running the project centered on good communication with all of our partners. More than 10k people attended over the three nights.
In the main room, we wanted the stage design to expand beyond the stage deck to order to make the whole room come to life as an experience and not just a spectacle to be viewed on the other side of the barricade. We collaborated with b1n4ry Visuals and Jon Medina on the main and the second room stage sets. However, the stage visuals were so compelling many people sat in the arena to take in the show.
The visuals required the integration of lighting, lasers, fabrication, and video. Working individually the elements would distract from each other. Working together the stage design becomes emergent and participants enter their immersive flow.
Moe Gram’s ‘Texture Garden’
This was Moe’s first installation. We had such faith in her work as a visual artist that we wanted to give her the opportunity to do install a sculptural piece. People loved her installation.
The handheld phone was incidentally a brilliant prop and object for people to interact with.
The Experimental Chillzone
Resting is a fundamental human need. Too often venue designers and festival producers overlook it and value stimulation or commercial activity instead. We saw prioritizing chillzones, rather than making them an after-thought, as fundamental to our experiences and a differentiator in the market place. It also called to mind 90s and early 2000 parties that featured a chill out stage.
The second stage provided a unique visual experience by placing the DJ behind the project mapped scrim. Some performers and audience members loved the effect. Others said the placement made them feel too far removed. Ultimately more testing would have allowed for an optimized experience.
Denver Kiki Sessions inside of the Secret Love Collective room.
Our marketing lead and marketing campaign manager, Megan Cohen, streaming to Instagram.
Megan coordinated with the AEG team and was responsible for managing the flow of more than a dozen assets across socials, print, Google ads, and the website.
Performers played a key role in Dark Palace. We wanted users to live in our world, so we can began populating that world by planting the seed for immersivity via performers who already dwelled inside of it. Users interacted with them and were drawn deeper into the experience.
We wanted to push forward our brand’s emphasis on unique LED wall configurations at Dark Palace. Not only was the shape around the DJ booth unique, their placement inside of the towers created a unique architectural and visual scene.
Production and Reproduction - Jess Bernstein’s photography - an example of her work from CloZee at Envision Festival
We became acquainted with Jess Bernstein through working with Desert Hearts. Her treatment of subjects, saturation of colors, and capturing of scenes I believe has profoundly influenced the standard for what festival photography and festivals looks like.
The creation of experience in this social era means not only producing the experience first-hand for people, but reproducing the experience across digital platforms. We made the decision to work with Jess on our festivals with this in mind.