VIDEOSTORE
Roles:
Event Overview:
VideoStore was an event and exhibition that served both as a house for video work to be presented on VHS and cassette tapes and as the staging for a larger narrative. Employees of the store acted in character during the stores Open Hours and interacted with guests to the store to progress the plot of the exhibition. The technical production of the store, specifically the sound design, transported the once white walled gallery into a 1980s surrealist video rental store.
Creative Directors: Megan Ross & Kay Ehwa
Set Design: Megan Ross
Video Artist: Kay Ehwa
Lighting Designer: Onyx Raia
Audio Designer: Owen Greenfield
Graphic Designers: Megan Ross, Kay Ehwa, Emmy Kelley, Owen Greenfield, Tori Rego
Documentation: Nick Ortoleva & Adine Raboy
My Role Summary:
My roles on this project consisted of production management, production design, and scenic painting. I co developed the narrative of VideoStore with Kay Ehwa and coordinated a team of people group for this eventl
Location:
Godine Family Gallery
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Boston, MA
January 17th -February 2nd, 2023
The Narrative:
VideoStore is a temporal anomaly in which a 1980s video rental store is trapped in time by a malevolent monster. The monster feeds off of the employees until they run out like a VHS tape that has been played too many times. The monster takes the form of retail stores to ensure the constant flow in workforce and randomly pops up in towns across America. The manager Craig Davis is under the influence of the monster, it uses the manager to gain more employees and to keep them unaware of their realities. The manager met the monster in Vaguely, Utah, a fictionalized town where upon discovery the monster garnered a significant religious following. While the Boston VideoStore location was open, a glitch in the monster's signal occurred, disrupting the employees lives, and causing a revelation amongst the workforce.
Production Design:
The set design for VideoStore was crafted to resemble a kitsch 1980's video rental store. The patterning was inspired by the Memphis Milano Design group, which dominated the 1980s with their bold and geometric patterns. The bacteria pattern on the back wall was designed to be reminiscent of Turning's naturally occurring patterns to give a subtle hint at the store itself being a live and sentient. The environment was meant to be quirky, fun, and completely transformative of the original white gallery space.
Set Dressing:
The set dressing was an integral aspect of dating the store. Props were found through scavenging thrift stores and church sales, looking for 1980s toys, technologies, and furniture. The set dressing helped convey the narrative of a store trapped in time. The set dressing in the manager's office specifically progressed the plot as it revealed
Set Design:
Graphic Design & Marketing:
The graphic identity of VideoStore was inspired by 1980s catalogue design. Decisions in type faces and color schemes were informed by 1980s advertisements and commercials.
The graphic identity of VideoStore was inspired by 1980s catalogue design. Decisions in type faces and color schemes were informed by 1980s advertisements and commercials.
Call for Arts & Marketing:
We used innovative marketing techniques to promote the call for arts. The call for art posters were designed in the shape of vhs tape covers, a cassette tape cover, and a magazine. We displayed the call for arts on an a-line tape display shelf as 3D mockups of the tapes and magazine.
Next to the display, there was a crt tv playing an infomercial end screen with the VideoStore number. When called, the caller would be met with a voicemail advertising the grand opening of the store.
Graphic Set Dressing and Signage:
During the production, the graphic design was used to transport audiences into the world of VideoStore and add clues to the narrative of the store, such as the Vaguely, Utah postcard and the Smile You're on Camera signs . Some signs served as informative tools to instruct guests on how to operate the equipment such as VCRs and cassette decks. We also had membership cards for guests to take.
Merchandise Design:
The call outs that the employees would react to informed the merchandise design for VideoStore. Shirts and tote bags read "Rewind, Rewind, Rewind" in a similar manner to connivence store plastic bags. Our sticker designs reflected the production design of the store, utilizing the patterning on the walls.
The Employees:
Employees played a key role in the story telling of VideoStore. We wanted the employee characters to feel organic and flow with the audience, so the actors improvised based on their character description. The actors characters' were determined by a DND style character sheet.
Photo by Nick Ortoleva
Submitted Work:
Video & Music Submissions:
Artists of all media at Massachusetts College of Art and Design submitted work to be displayed in VideoStore. Video work was converted to VHS tape and music was recored onto cassette tapes. Some artists chose to decorate their own covers while others let us put a pre designed cover. We had over 50 music and video submissions.
Explicit Content Room:
The explicit content room sought to represent the 18+ section in video rental stores. Our explicit call for art sought to represent a wide range of the MassArt community. We had over 40 submissions. Selected works were displayed on the walls. All of the submissions culminated into the VideoStore After Hours Magazine.
Interactive Elements:
Rock N' Robics is a circuit bent toy guitar made into a video mixer using Max and Ardunio software. In VideoStore, it was displayed as a demo game and served as a point of audience participation. The video mixer's kitsch and poignant 80's aesthetic combined with glitch and data moshing played into the overall narrative of the store by highlighting the subtle off kilter aspects and the store's decay.
CRT TV Stack:
Photo by Nick Ortoleva
Th crt tv stack allowed audiences to see themselves on TV via a camcorder and use a video mixer to glitch between feeds with a video of their choice.
Surveillance System:
Photo by Adine Raboy
VideoStore had a fully functioning security system that guests could see the feed from in the backroom.
Technical Production:
The technical prowess of VideoStore elevated the production and transported audiences into the world building of the store. Owen Greenfield's 24/7 audio sprinkled with a growling and guttural soundscape echoed out into the hallways, beaconing people to come inside the exhibition and signifing the personification of the store. Owen used 4 directional panning in the space along with contact speakers to create a full sound experience. Matt McCorkindale's Interface 2 projection piece acted as the monster of the store, providing a pinnacle aspect of storytelling.
Receptions:
VideoStore Closing: Everything Must Go
The Grand Opening:
January 19th marked the grand opening of VideoStore. Audiences crowded into the space as store music mixed with monster noises echoed down the hallways. The employees engaged the audience by introducing their characters and acting out their parts. Guests interacted with the space by playing video work on CRT TVs and unraveling the story of VideoStore. To further engage audiences with the space, we held a karaoke night where guests were invited to sing along to their favorite hits from the last three decades. The karaoke machine was from the 80s and worked only off of cassette, giving an added layer of authenticity to VideoStore.
The closing of VideoStore took place on January 31st. We held a closing sale in which guests could buy the VHS tapes and VideoStore merchandise. During the closing of VideoStore we unveiled the answers to the mystery of the store through a scavenger hunt for the Manager's journal pages. At this point in the narrative, the store is experiencing a major glitch. The employees acted along as if the closing of VideoStore signaled the end of days. The Goliath Egret Path, a fictionalized group of spiritual zealots, was revealed to be a contributing factor to the manager's relationship with the monster and the strict control he possessed over the employees and a reason for the dissent of the store.
Dana Moser
