The first week of Upstarts was held in Cawley Nea in Rathmines with a brief to promote an upcoming exbition entitled ‘The Moderns’ at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. This was the first and only ‘live’ brief, which meant that one of the 12 individually presented concepts would be chosen for production and airing on RTE in October.

The brief
Encourage the ‘Unconverted’ to come and see ‘their own’ art collection.

My Response
“Discover yourself in every piece.”

TV
Art is how you perceive and behold it, discover yourself in every piece.  The TV ad will convey a sense of deep wonderment and marvel and will consist of close-up shots of various faces shot in strong slow-motion.  These people represent the assortment of styles, characteristics and personalities that make up the collection, artists and in turn, Ireland.

The ad will open on a close-up of a young girl, (mid-twenties natural and pretty), looking quizzical, curious and with deep intent into the camera.

Suddenly the camera flicks between shots of various others, a cross-section of varying ages, shapes and sizes…all holding the same deep gaze,  curiosity and head movements.  These people represent the assortment of styles , characteristics and personalities that make up the collection, artists and in turn Ireland.

We land back on the opening girl…suddenly her face sparks up, the perplexity is lost in a wave of satisfaction and enlightenment, she suddenly finds whatever it is she has been looking for.

The camera cuts to a shot from behind the girl… we can now see that she is standing looking at a large framed picture hanging on the gallery wall.  However, due to the angle of the camera and the reflection of the light all we, the viewer, can see, is the girl’s own reflection in the painting.
We see her looking momentarily and fully at her own reflection, she gives a ‘knowing,’ content and satisfied smile as if to her herself and then walks off camera.

The Camera pans back and up to show a wide shot of the IMMA gallery with the voicover:
“Discover yourself in every piece.
The Moderns Exhibition, now showing at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin”

Guerilla
For guerilla marketing I propose that we place large frames around various cities and places in Ireland, eg. the Famine memorial statues, O’Connell Street, the GPO,  framing real life scenes, architecture, people and places around Ireland, places that either feature in the Moderns exhibition themselves or else represent a milestone in Ireland’s recent history, and thus have helped shape Ireland into what it is today.

We can place large carboard plackards beside the frames and on the sides of buildingd, signifying that you, us, Ireland is the subject matter.

People can interact, take photographs of, and become part of the scene itself…

Digital – Stickybits
Stickybits is a “fun and social way to attach digital content to real world objects” via a mobile app for iphone or android…and is an excellent way to join and share the conversation.  I propose to add barcodes beside the frame installations around Dublin and to specific pieces in the exhibition itself.

For example, beside Mainie Jellet’s ‘Virgin of Fire’ painting, we can add a sticker which, when scanned by a visitors phone, will lead them to a page showing all comments links and photographs that other people have added in relation to that painting.

Download full response to brief here (.pdf)