HAPPINESS MACHINE #1
HAPPINESS MACHINES
a collaboration by Nick Benacerraf, Jess Applebaum, Marina McClure, Camden Place
NOTE: NEW OPENING DATE!.jpg?1416412697)
chashama 266
266 W 37th Street
New York, NY 10018
November 19 - 23, 2014
Opening Reception:
November 19
Open Hours:
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 5pm-9pm
Saturday, Sunday: 3pm-9pm
In the heart of NYC, just steps away from Penn Station, and neighbor to the monolithic Macy’s, come to the Happiness Machine, where you will find a personalized holiday refuge built specifically for you. Whether tourist, shopper, or employee, if you’re on 37th Street between the hours of 5pm and 9pm (3pm – 9pm on weekends) you can embark on a nostalgic holiday journey. Start on the street where you will be served a warm cup of coffee or hot apple cider, and then heat up in the comfort of your ‘family room’ on the eve of the holidays. Join your family members in familiar traditions that delight, entertain and remind us most of what matters this holiday season: friends, family, and the holiday tradition. And at the end of the experience, you will have the opportunity to purchase a variety authentic holiday presents.
Happiness Machines has commissioned this American Holiday Experience with the intention of giving you five minutes of pure, unadulterated holiday happiness. No set, no fancy hydraulics, no gimmicks. Happiness Machine’s holiday window gives you the simple, unadulterated pleasure of comfort and home. Curl up with Mom on the couch and have some heart-to-heart girl time; sip coffee or hot apple cider while Dad organizes and creates the game plan for decorating this year’s tree; string popcorn with your crafty sister; enjoy the moment of flight as you place the angel on top of the tree. At the end of the 4-minute encounter, you will have the opportunity to purchase gifts for your loved ones from the Holiday Menu. And if you’re feeling shy – don’t worry – you can take comfort in private memories as you watch family customs unfold from a short distance away. Limited Time Only.
HAPPINESS MACHINES is a series of installation experiences initiated by Nick Benacerraf that intends to disarm the tools of advertising by inverting the work of Sigmund Freud’s American nephew, Edward Bernays, the inventor of modern consumerism, who was the first to apply Freud’s theory of the subconscious to manipulate the masses. In a world where advertisements operate upon the human subconscious in microseconds, HAPPINESS MACHINES is a new installation/ performance piece that slows advertising down to a snail’s pace, begging to be dissected. The piece adopts the tools of advertising in sublime excess, bringing the spectator so far down the rabbit hole that they come out the other side, awakened to the raw power of the tools that affect opinion in every vein of public life.
www.happinessmachines.nyc
Artist Biographies:
NICK BENACERRAF (creative director) is an award-winning visual artist, academic, and activist who works in live performance. He is co-artistic director of The Assembly (www.assemblytheater.org), “a cutting-edge young theater collective” (New York Times). He is a full-time professor at Kean University’s Theatre Department, and co-author of the Brooklyn Commune report, a project to study the economics of the performing arts in NYC (www.brooklyncommune.org). Nick holds a BA from Wesleyan University two Masters from CalArts (MFA in Scenic Design; MA in Aesthetics & Politics). www.nickbenacerraf.com
HAPPINESS MACHINE # 1 - CREATIVE TEAM:
JESS APPLEBAUM is Literary Manager for One Year Lease Theater Company and collaborates with Enthuse Theater, Yinzerspielen and director Simón Hanukai. She presented "Dramaturg for Hire: Contextual Dramaturgy for a Global (St)age" at the conference Alternative Dramaturgies in Tangiers, Morocco and curated a discussion on Devised Performance Dramaturgy at LMDA's annual conference. Jess holds an MFA in Dramaturgy from Columbia University and an MA in Performance Studies from NYU.
MARINA McCLURE is a director, media artist, and writer. She specializes in character-driven, interdisciplinary work with the audience experience at the core. She earned her MFA in Directing from CalArts where she also studied interactivity and performative media. www.marinamcclure.com
CAMDEN PLACE is a Brooklyn-based video and installation artist. His work addresses the relationship between popular media and personal identity and has recently been exhibited in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. www.placecamden.com
Check out the event website at www.happinessmachines.nyc and join the Facebook event here.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact: (609) 577-1990 or happinessmachinesnyc@gmail.com.
a collaboration by Nick Benacerraf, Jess Applebaum, Marina McClure, Camden Place
NOTE: NEW OPENING DATE!
chashama 266
266 W 37th Street
New York, NY 10018
November 19 - 23, 2014
Opening Reception:
November 19
Open Hours:
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 5pm-9pm
Saturday, Sunday: 3pm-9pm
In the heart of NYC, just steps away from Penn Station, and neighbor to the monolithic Macy’s, come to the Happiness Machine, where you will find a personalized holiday refuge built specifically for you. Whether tourist, shopper, or employee, if you’re on 37th Street between the hours of 5pm and 9pm (3pm – 9pm on weekends) you can embark on a nostalgic holiday journey. Start on the street where you will be served a warm cup of coffee or hot apple cider, and then heat up in the comfort of your ‘family room’ on the eve of the holidays. Join your family members in familiar traditions that delight, entertain and remind us most of what matters this holiday season: friends, family, and the holiday tradition. And at the end of the experience, you will have the opportunity to purchase a variety authentic holiday presents.
Happiness Machines has commissioned this American Holiday Experience with the intention of giving you five minutes of pure, unadulterated holiday happiness. No set, no fancy hydraulics, no gimmicks. Happiness Machine’s holiday window gives you the simple, unadulterated pleasure of comfort and home. Curl up with Mom on the couch and have some heart-to-heart girl time; sip coffee or hot apple cider while Dad organizes and creates the game plan for decorating this year’s tree; string popcorn with your crafty sister; enjoy the moment of flight as you place the angel on top of the tree. At the end of the 4-minute encounter, you will have the opportunity to purchase gifts for your loved ones from the Holiday Menu. And if you’re feeling shy – don’t worry – you can take comfort in private memories as you watch family customs unfold from a short distance away. Limited Time Only.
HAPPINESS MACHINES is a series of installation experiences initiated by Nick Benacerraf that intends to disarm the tools of advertising by inverting the work of Sigmund Freud’s American nephew, Edward Bernays, the inventor of modern consumerism, who was the first to apply Freud’s theory of the subconscious to manipulate the masses. In a world where advertisements operate upon the human subconscious in microseconds, HAPPINESS MACHINES is a new installation/ performance piece that slows advertising down to a snail’s pace, begging to be dissected. The piece adopts the tools of advertising in sublime excess, bringing the spectator so far down the rabbit hole that they come out the other side, awakened to the raw power of the tools that affect opinion in every vein of public life.
www.happinessmachines.nyc
Artist Biographies:
NICK BENACERRAF (creative director) is an award-winning visual artist, academic, and activist who works in live performance. He is co-artistic director of The Assembly (www.assemblytheater.org), “a cutting-edge young theater collective” (New York Times). He is a full-time professor at Kean University’s Theatre Department, and co-author of the Brooklyn Commune report, a project to study the economics of the performing arts in NYC (www.brooklyncommune.org). Nick holds a BA from Wesleyan University two Masters from CalArts (MFA in Scenic Design; MA in Aesthetics & Politics). www.nickbenacerraf.com
HAPPINESS MACHINE # 1 - CREATIVE TEAM:
JESS APPLEBAUM is Literary Manager for One Year Lease Theater Company and collaborates with Enthuse Theater, Yinzerspielen and director Simón Hanukai. She presented "Dramaturg for Hire: Contextual Dramaturgy for a Global (St)age" at the conference Alternative Dramaturgies in Tangiers, Morocco and curated a discussion on Devised Performance Dramaturgy at LMDA's annual conference. Jess holds an MFA in Dramaturgy from Columbia University and an MA in Performance Studies from NYU.
MARINA McCLURE is a director, media artist, and writer. She specializes in character-driven, interdisciplinary work with the audience experience at the core. She earned her MFA in Directing from CalArts where she also studied interactivity and performative media. www.marinamcclure.com
CAMDEN PLACE is a Brooklyn-based video and installation artist. His work addresses the relationship between popular media and personal identity and has recently been exhibited in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. www.placecamden.com
Check out the event website at www.happinessmachines.nyc and join the Facebook event here.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact: (609) 577-1990 or happinessmachinesnyc@gmail.com.
