We recently worked with the University of Chicago and HYPa to imagine a new community art program for Chicago’s mid-South side. Visitors were asked to speak ‘Culture Coast’ and have their words rendered into three-dimensional form.

The resulting forms would then be given back to the community at public events through sculpture and interactive inflatables.

A modified prefab photo booth would provide a place to collect the spoken words at cultural events around the city. A camera would also be available to those who wished to share a personal story or connection to the mid-South side.

These stories would then be curated into an online archive sorted by location or experience for all to engage in the richness of the community.

Over time, the collection of 3D forms would grow, and would be used to broadcast the voice of the community throughout the city.

The first phase of ideation is complete, and future phases are planned pending further funding.

Concept + Creative Direction: Rick Valicenti
Design + Programming [Cinder]: John Pobojewski

Almost one year ago, Curiosities – The 21st Century Thirst opened at the Schmidt Center Gallery on Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus. On January 23 Curiosities 2.0 opens at York College of Pennsylvania.

The exhibition has been dramatically refashioned to include new work and to respond to the fabulous setting. Self-inspired art and design fills Brossman Gallery while Thirst client-initiated work hangs in the adjoining Cora Miller Gallery.

We love to share our art and design, so please stop by York College between January 21 and February 24, 2011. Your feedback is encouraged.

WOLF 201 B Cora Miller Exhibit Hall
York College of Pennsylvania
441 Country Club Road
York, PA 17403-3651

Local designer/street artist/activist, Nick Adam has permanently installed his painted alphabet Rare Form first shown in the Typeforce show inside the Thirst studios. You are invited and encouraged to stop by and see Nick’s work up close as it is a rare and intelligent typographic gem. Drop us and email or call first to let us know you are coming by in the months approaching the mid-term elections.

Here’s  a sample from Nick’s description of Rare Form

… Rare Form’s objective was to offer moments of visual silence while celebrating the power and the beauty of typography. In an act of info-reduction, signage from Illinois’s 2010 primaries was removed from public spaces to be repurposed as canvases. Violating the one-color graphics with hand lettered type substituted the multiple messages once held by the sign for a much simpler one. The slab-serif letters are a custom alphabet created for this project. Each was freestyled following the hand techniques of traditional sign-painters as well in their medium of brush and 1-shot enamel.

Displayed individually as well in groupings, we are privy to observe each character outside of its common codependent context of conveying a message. Sans-statement, these letters will not judge your lifestyle, ask you for help, nor will they tell you where to be. Simply these symbols exemplify the power and capabilities of our human kind.

Also on display inside Thirst are rare and unique work by Ed Fella, Paul Rand, Paul Sahre, Frank Gerhy, April Greiman, Mike Perry, Dennis Ichiyama, Jason Pickleman, Marian Bantjes, Sonnenzimer, to name but a few.

Please let us know when you are in the area, we would like to share the collection.

Rare Form
Hand-Lettering in 1-Shot Enamel on Removed Corrugated-Plastic Signs. 26 individual 18″ X 24″

Since the start of the new year, we have been preparing for an exhibit titled: Curiosities: Rick Valicenti + the 21st Century Thirst . The exhibit opened on February 13. It is free and open to the public until April 3rd at the Schmidt Center Gallery on Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus.

The exhibition includes Thirst work from the past decade. In an effort to display the various types of work Thirst, we recreated our office environment. The Curiosities exhibition is a place where professional work mixes freely with personal explorations, where there is no boundary between “serious” play and “serious” work. Curiosities invites you to step into the fertile creative grounds that exist in the minds at Thirst. If you are in the south Florida area visiting a grandparent or parent or planning Spring break on the beach, be curious and visit the exhibition.

An opening reception celebrated the collaboration between FAU and Thirst — nearly 200 people were greeted upon entering by Thirst founder and owner, Rick Valicenti and designer Bud Rodecker. For the full Thirst experience, attendees were able to talk to senior designer John Pobojewski and Thirst intern Jason McAloon and get a glimpse into the office via live webfeed.

Freestanding walls display posters, and prints—professional, political, and playful—of Thirst’s varied and fascinating history.

Collaboration is at the core of what we do and it is reinforced immediately upon entering the exhibit.

The concept for the inevitable Iraqi war memorial, made for print, gets a new life as a 3D print.

Rick Valicenti, Bud Rodecker, and Jason McAloon have collaborated with Diana Mighdoll Hoffmaster, MFA in Choreography, to premiere a new work using dance, lighting and graphic design elements. Text’n Motion premiered February 5th on the FAU Boca Raton Campus and coincides with our Curiosities exhibition.

Diana initiated the process with this direction, “We have begun to work based on what community means to us”. This experience represents our first collaboration in the dance medium and with that we consciously took a baby step to comfort in the discomfort zone. The piece exceeded all expectations.

Here is a glimpse.

Our previously announced exhibition, Curiosities, is coming together nicely. Above are some images of our over the top installation. We are thankful to all the design students of Florida Atlantic University for bringing our work to life.

The exhibition opens with a lecture by Rick Valicenti on Friday February 12th.

For more detailed information about Curiosities see the press release below.

Boca Raton Graphic Design Exhibition Features Rick Valicenti and Thirst

CHICAGO (February 12, 2010) –A retrospective exhibition of work from graphic design studio Thirst opens Saturday, February 13 at the Schmidt Center Gallery on Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus. Thirst is a graphic design firm based in Chicago that was founded in 1988 by internationally known designer/artist Rick Valicenti.

This marks the first national retrospective exhibition of Thirst’s work. The opening reception for the exhibition will be Friday, February 12 from 7 to 9 pm, beginning with a free public lecture by Valicenti.

The exhibition runs through April 3 and is open Tuesday–Friday 1:00–4:00 pm, Saturday 1:00–5:00 pm and is at the Schmidt Center Gallery & Ritter Art Gallery at Florida Atlantic University: 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, Florida 33431. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

The show, entitled Curiosities: Rick Valicenti + the 21st Century Thirst displays both commercial designs created for clients and personal art from the past decade. Over 150 pieces cover the gallery walls and display tables to showcase the energy and connection to human emotion inherent in Thirst’s designs.

Some of the work shown includes designs with designers Adrian Smith, Jeanne Gang, Arik Levy, Martin Felsen, and for clients like Richard Wright, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Herman Miller, and more.

Thirst is a studio devoted to “art with function” and serves a collection of clients from the worlds of design + culture: architects, industrial designers, furniture designers, engineers, and artists. Thirst’s work continues to lead the industry and express intelligence, high fashion, and a connection to the human spirit within today’s world of communication.

Thirst is opening a 21st century retrospective exhibition in Boca Raton at Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt Center Gallery. The show opens on February 13th and will run until April 3rd, and ultimately migrate to NYC and then to one other national university setting.

Curiosities, Rick Valicenti + the 21st Century Thirst is work from the past decade curated to underscore the collaborative balance and value between the professional commission and the personal research.

An opening reception for the exhibition, beginning with a lecture by Valicenti, will be presented on Friday, February 12 from 7 to 9 pm. In association with our exhibition, the department of theatre and dance’s FAU Dance Ensemble will premiere a work on February 5–7 that Rick Valicenti is collaborating on with graduate students in dance and visual arts.

We’ll be posting more detail and images very soon!

Floor-plan of the Thirst show.

As you enter the show you’re greeted with a collective gasp.

We just finished a new ambient video installation at the DMK Burger Bar in Lakeview. Renown restauranteur David Morton and renown chef Michael Kornick are opening this new hip atmospheric eatery in Chicago’s Lakeview — stop by if you’re in the neighborhood as it opens tonight.

Early reviews say to “expect chef-driven burgers and artisanal beer.” We can vouch for two things: the video is hypnotizing and the burgers are delicious.

Thanks for Jason Pickleman (who also crafted the language and created the identity for DMK) for commissioning us to create the video.

View more of the project on 3st.com.