The Muse Exhibit + Merchandise
Personal Illustrations
Creative Brief: Using the imagery of a digital glitch dubbed "The Muse," create physical merchandise and art for the general public, illustrated through personal interpretations of how the glitch manifests itself.
The first interpretation I had of "The Muse" was through a cyborg character, decorated in symbolic cyber circuit detailing. The design was inspired by Japanese manga and racing aesthetic.
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The second design was inspired by 60s pop art comics. I illustrated the circuit design through the character's tears, mimicking the melodramatic nature of women portrayed in comics at the time.
The third design was based on somewhat uncanny manga characters, and the original design is accompanied by a quote created by AI. This relates back to the idea of the "glitch" being a sentient being.
In relation to the 60s pop art style characters, I created this print with a focus of having a bright color as the capturing point.
The final T-shirt design emulates the famous "I love NY" logo. The heart includes circuit imagery, connecting with the rest of the merchandise imagery.
I stuck with the concept of a "60's dramatic pop art woman character" and expanded it into a five-panel comic. The story centers around a traditional husband who is trying to decipher his wife's feelings, who is initially hiding her emotions. She eventually reveals she has been "infected" by The Muse, unable to move on as if it's a melodramatic love triangle.
Through creating merchandise and prints, our class collective created a planned immersive storyline that anyone following along could puzzle the pieces together over the course of the term. "The Muse" was used as "inspiration" to post cryptic visual messages throughout campus and social media, and we planned each step as if we were being controlled by it. We gathered outside suspicion and attention, and even sparked online discussions and Reddit threads.
To conclude our performance, we held an exhibition including our art and merchandise that people could purchase. We immersed visitors in the unfolding storyline, presenting our interpretations as though we were simply showcasing gathered evidence.
Exhibition Day
At the end of the exhibit, I sold all of my merchandise and almost all of my prints. It was incredibly rewarding to see the turnout.
