2017
Role: Project Manager
Designers: Slanted Studios and MTN GODS
Brooklyn-based Slanted Studios and MTN GODS created a series of interactive vignettes to inform the public about the fundamentals of the Freshkills Park project. Four dioramas tell the story of the landfill-to-park project through the lenses of environmental history, transformative technologies, wildlife and its evolving future as a massive park.
The vignettes include bold colors and shapes in different representational forms and depths, such as compartments, platforms, models, dioramas, and digital screens. Visitors using their mobile phones are able to activate dynamic paper cuts with motors and lights, and an interactive voice response system provides visitors with a deeper level of information about the park.
The pop-up is meant to inspire viewers with the landscape design of Freshkills Park to learn more about urban ecology in New York City’s built environment. These dioramas tour locations in New York City, with potential for simultaneous display and/or travel.
Slanted Studios x MTN GODS were selected to design the installation through an RFQ and juried process organized by the Freshkills Park art program. They are a multidisciplinary team of designers, coders, illustrators and animators with expertise in creating a wide range of commercial projects and public art installations. The team consists of Creative Directors Michelle Higa Fox and Philip Sierzega, Technical Director Charlie Whitney, Content Developer Stuart Higa Fox, and Producer Jennifer Vance.
This project is supported in part by funding from the Staten Island Foundation and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Credits
Slanted Studios & MTN GODS
Creative Directors: Philip Sierzega & Michelle Higa Fox
Technical Direction: Charlie Whitney
Producer: Jennifer Vance
Research & Writing: Stuart Higa Fox
Designers: Terra Henderson, Philip Sierzega
Animation: Caresse Haaser, Ana Kim, Philip Sierzega
Fabrication: Junko Shizimu, Victoria Arslani, Taili Wu, Ana Kim, John Hughes, Jennifer Vance, Yiwen Yan
Digital Fabrication: GAMMA NYC
Physical Computing: Charlie Whitney, Yiwen Yan
Voice Talent: Noah Norman, Alison Willmore
Audio Engineering: Mixtape Club Music
Sound Design: Raymo Ventura
Case Study
DP: Chris Willmore
Music: Ketsa “Within the Earth”