Nocturne-X: Immersive Art, Collaborative Art
“Heyyyyyy. I think i just got approval to bring you in to this immersive art project. I’d love to chat about it. Are you down to do a phone call tomorrow?”
Word to the wise: if Zach Fish ever asks you to join him on a project, say yes. I’d worked with him before, and immediately jumped on the chance to do so again when he became the Art Director for Nocturne X and hired me as Project Manager for this wild roller-coaster ride, home-built in Oakland. Once I’d been strapped into this machine in onboarding, my feet dangled off the edge as I readied myself for the twists, turns, and loops of a project built by local Bay Area artists. I soon discovered that Shlomo, our CEO, was building a ride unlike any other — with trust, collaboration, and equity at the forefront.
“This was not going to be a top-down structure with a divine CEO whose vision must be followed at all times.”
The trust was apparent from the beginning. I remember my very first meeting with Shlomo, armed with a list of the organizational tasks that had leapt up before me — documentation, planning, communications, and more. One particular document was a bit of a sticking point for Shlomo, but to my shock, after a quick back-and-forth disagreement he looked at me and said, “great, you’ve convinced me. I trust you.” This, I don’t think I need to point out, is not the usual way of doing things for a Bay Area CEO.
I learned something fundamental about Shlomo, and about the project, in that conversation: this was not going to be a top-down structure with a divine CEO whose vision must be followed at all times. Nocturne X was going to be about artists and professionals creating collaborative, elaborate art. The input of designers, fabricators, programmers, managers, and writers would all have value. Over the next few months, leaders would emerge naturally from within the crews to lead teams of their own as complexity increased.
The truly revolutionary part of this project, however, was equity. While most art projects — especially when sourced from community — seem to rely on high goodwill and low wages, Nocturne X committed to fair compensation for work at the fabrication level, wanting its contractors to be able to afford rent and nice things, even at the high cost of living of the Bay.
The artists who designed the physical pieces, the programmers creating lush visual landscapes, the engineers crafting interactive electronics to create an immersive experience, and even the weirdos making spreadsheets behind the scenes (that’s me) — these key team members were invited in to share in revenue, for their hard work and creative vision. Furthermore, this revenue would be shared before even our generous investors received profits. Nocturne X is not structured solely to enrich those already possessing wealth, but seeks to make it easier for the artists themselves to live in the Bay Area, so they can keep enriching our communities.
Nocturne X is not structured solely to enrich those already possessing wealth, but seeks to make it easier for the artists themselves to live in the Bay Area, so they can keep enriching our communities.
As the project churned on, we grew rapidly from less than a dozen team members in May to nearly a hundred in July. I got to watch our team leads design, prototype, and build gorgeous vistas, micro- and megaflora, illuminative cavern walls, interstellar tech, and even an enormous alien tree, all in our hometown art incubator, American Steel. I was beyond excited as we shipped it all over to Gray Area in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood (a long-time haven for art) to set the scene for visitors to another planet.
I’m thrilled to welcome my friends, community, and the rest of the Bay to see this amazing planet come to life. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with this artist-led, artist-prioritizing project, and to share with you over the next few posts about how this exhibit has come to be.
-Alexis, Nocturne X Project Manager
