This fall TRADEMARK partnered with Clay, a design-forward tech company, to bring to life their first ever flagship conference: Sculpt
The Clay team was craving an unconventional activation for their event and came to TRADEMARK with references like local art exhibitions and immersive dj sets seen at III Points. They wanted us to find a creative option that felt both exciting and grounding to align with their theme : “Creativity is your only Limitation”.
Enter New Nostalgia — a bay area based dj group and a self described “fake tech company”. They started out by satirizing local AI-startup culture in their performances and have now become one of our favorite immersive activation partners. For Clay’s conference, they delivered the “Creative Pulse”: an immersive art installation that was the talk of the event. [BELOW]
“We wanted a direct sensory experience,” Aakash Malhotra, Co-founder at New Nostalgia explained, “similar to having a gust of wind hit your face, seeing the sunset, or feeling the sweat on your skin within a packed dancefloor…An experience that hit your nervous system before your brain could catch up.”
The experience was tucked into a quiet corner of the Contemporary Jewish Museum where they were greeted by the New Nostalgia team and then given a brief intro about what to expect. Upon entering, attendees wandered onto a mirrored walkway over a dark void. This was energized by occasional orchestrated bursts of laser light and sound that were designed to have the same cadence of a deep breath. Attendees left the experience feeling transformed, grounded and inspired.
New Nostalgia shows that sometimes the most transformative experiences come from partners bold enough to play with perception itself. You can find them and upcoming events at https://newnostalgia.org/ and their IG at @newnostalgia_org.
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