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Nonchalance
Company typeFor profit
IndustryGames
Founded ()
in San Francisco, California, United States
FoundersJeff Hull
Headquarters
United States
Websitenonchalance.com

Nonchalance began as an art collective in Oakland, CA around 2002 and later in 2008 was transformed into a design consultancy group.[1] Their work focuses on interactive, immersive art installations, which they call "situational design".[2]

History

Nonchalance was launched by Jeff Hull around 2002. Their first project was the street art campaign called Oaklandish.[1][3] Original projects included a wheat-paste poster series, the "Oakland-Love Retrospective" slide show (projected onto downtown architectural landmarks), the Liberation Drive-In[4] parking lot movie series, and the Oakslander Lakeside Gazette zine.[5][6] These projects aimed to infuse cultural content into negative urban spaces during a time of rapid development in the city.[7]

The Jejune Institute

See also: The Jejune Institute

In 2008, Nonchalance created The Jejune Institute, an alternate reality game, public art installation and immersive experience that ran in San Francisco, California, from 2008 to 10 April 2011.[8]The Jejune Institute featured a narrative that made use of live actors, puzzles, phone calls, radio transmissions, staged protests, and interactive promenade theater.[9][10]It centered on characters such as the eponymous Jejune Institute and its founder, the rebel group the Elsewhere Public Works Agency, and a rebellious young woman named Eva.[9][10]

Over the course of three years, it enrolled more than 10,000 players who, responding to eccentric flyers plastered all over the city, started the game by receiving their "induction" at the fake headquarters of the institute, located in an office building in San Francisco's Financial District.[11][12]

Latitude Society

In 2015, Nonchalance opened the Latitude Society, an invite-only secret society and immersive experience.[13] It featured a clubhouse, an arcade, and regular social events. The Latitude Society closed after one year, at least partially due to an operating cost of $3,000 per day.[14][15]

SYGNYL

From 2021 to 2022, Nonchalance ran a podcast called SYGNYL, "a participatory-arts podcast" inviting the audience to participate in "small collaborative acts in the real world."[16]

Awards

The Jejune Institute won "Best World" and "Best Story" at Indiecade 2010,[17] and "Best Alternate Reality" in the SF Bay Guardian's "Best of the Bay 2010".[18]

References

  1. ^ a b Marech, Rona (2002-08-23). "Oakland artists celebrate ignored beauty / Video festival, Web..." SFGATE. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  2. ^ Byrne, Bryony. "Aesthetica Magazine - The Games of Nonchalance". Aesthetica Magazine. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Aesthetica Magazine - The Games of Nonchalance". Aesthetica Magazine. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  4. ^ "Working the Grime Sublime". East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda. 2002-08-21. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  5. ^ "There, There, There". East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda. 2003-01-15. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  6. ^ "Is this city the next Brooklyn? It'd rather not be". Fortune. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  7. ^ Tian, Ye (2011-07-05). "Oaklandish to open downtown retail shop on Wednesday". Oakland North. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  8. ^ Paulas, Rick (11 March 2011). "Last Chance: The Mysteries of San Francisco's Creepy Jejune Institute". The Awl. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  9. ^ a b Harmanci, Reyhan (2011-04-22). "Interested in the Jejune Institute? It's Too Late". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  10. ^ a b Patterson, Troy (2020-02-28). "On AMC's "Dispatches from Elsewhere," Jason Segel Plays with Convoluted Ways of Telling Straight Stories". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  11. ^ Rothe, E. Nina (1 October 2013). "Down the Rabbit Hole with Spencer McCall's The Institute". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  12. ^ Harmanci, Reyhan (21 April 2011). "Interested in the Jejune Institute? It's Too Late". New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 October 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  13. ^ Paulas, Rick (24 September 2015). "'We Value Experience': Can a Secret Society Become a Business?". Longreads. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  14. ^ Laurensen, Lydia (7 March 2016). "My Year in San Francisco's $2 Million Secret Society Startup". www.vice.com. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  15. ^ Paulas, Rick (20 October 2015). "Postscript: A Secret Society Shuts Its Doors". Longreads. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  16. ^ Moore, Peter (15 February 2021). "The SYGNYL is a Participatory-arts Podcast that Subtly Invites listeners into a hidden world…". The Entertainment Engine. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  17. ^ Watson, Jeff (3 Jan 2011). "Jeff Hull on The Games of Nonchalance: a guerrilla street war against banality and routine | remotedevice.net". Remote Device. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  18. ^ "Best of the Bay 2009: City Living". San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966–2014. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
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