Nonchalance

{{Short description|American design consultancy group}} {{Infobox company | name = Nonchalance | logo = NonchalanceLogo.png | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | logo_padding = | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang =  | former_name = | type = For profit | industry = Games | founded = {{start date and age|}}<br />in San Francisco, California, United States | founders = Jeff Hull | hq_location = | hq_location_city = | hq_location_country = United States | area_served =  | key_people = | products = | brands = | services = | owner =  | ratio =  | rating =  | website = {{URL|http://nonchalance.com}} }}

'''Nonchalance''' began as an art collective in Oakland, California around 2002, and later in 2008 was transformed into a design consultancy group.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Marech |first=Rona |date=2002-08-23 |title=Oakland artists celebrate ignored beauty / Video festival, Web... |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-artists-celebrate-ignored-beauty-Video-2779308.php |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=SFGATE |language=en}}</ref> Their work focuses on interactive, immersive art installations, which they call "situational design".<ref name="Aesthetica">{{cite web |last1=Byrne |first1=Bryony |title=Aesthetica Magazine - The Games of Nonchalance |url=https://aestheticamagazine.com/the-games-of-nonchalance/ |website=Aesthetica Magazine |access-date=16 September 2022}}</ref>

== History == Nonchalance was launched by Jeff Hull around 2002. Their first project was the street art campaign called Oaklandish.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Aesthetica Magazine - The Games of Nonchalance |url=https://aestheticamagazine.com/the-games-of-nonchalance/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=Aesthetica Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref> Original projects included a wheat-paste poster series, the "Oakland-Love Retrospective" slide show (projected onto downtown architectural landmarks), the Liberation Drive-In<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-08-21 |title=Working the Grime Sublime |url=https://eastbayexpress.com/working-the-grime-sublime-1/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=East Bay Express {{!}} Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda |language=en-US}}</ref> parking lot movie series, and the Oakslander Lakeside Gazette zine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-15 |title=There, There, There |url=https://eastbayexpress.com/there-there-there-1/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=East Bay Express {{!}} Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Is this city the next Brooklyn? It’d rather not be. |url=https://fortune.com/2014/10/17/oakland-business-growth/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=Fortune |language=en}}</ref> These projects aimed to infuse cultural content into negative urban spaces during a time of rapid development in the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tian |first=Ye |date=2011-07-05 |title=Oaklandish to open downtown retail shop on Wednesday |url=https://oaklandnorth.net/2011/07/05/oaklandish-to-open-downtown-retail-shop-on-wednesday/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=Oakland North |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== The Jejune Institute === {{See also|The Jejune Institute}} In 2008, Nonchalance created The Jejune Institute, an alternate reality game, public art installation and immersive experience that ran in San Francisco, California, from 2008 to 10 April 2011.<ref name="Awl">{{cite web |last1=Paulas |first1=Rick |title=Last Chance: The Mysteries of San Francisco's Creepy Jejune Institute |url=https://www.theawl.com/2011/03/last-chance-the-mysteries-of-san-franciscos-creepy-jejune-institute/ |website=The Awl |access-date=24 February 2022 |date=11 March 2011}}</ref> The Jejune Institute featured a narrative that made use of live actors, puzzles, phone calls, radio transmissions, staged protests, and interactive promenade theater.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Harmanci |first=Reyhan |date=2011-04-22 |title=Interested in the Jejune Institute? It’s Too Late |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/us/22bcculture.html |access-date=2024-01-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Patterson |first=Troy |date=2020-02-28 |title=On AMC’s "Dispatches from Elsewhere," Jason Segel Plays with Convoluted Ways of Telling Straight Stories |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/on-amcs-dispatches-from-elsewhere-jason-segel-plays-with-convoluted-ways-of-telling-straight-stories |access-date=2024-01-07 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> It centered on characters such as the eponymous Jejune Institute and its founder, the rebel group the Elsewhere Public Works Agency, and a rebellious young woman named Eva.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

Over the course of three years, it enrolled more than 10,000 players who, responding to eccentric flyers plastered all over the city, started the game by receiving their "induction" at the fake headquarters of the institute, located in an office building in San Francisco's Financial District.<ref name="huffpo">{{cite news|last=Rothe|first=E. Nina|title=Down the Rabbit Hole with Spencer McCall's The Institute|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/e-nina-rothe/down-the-rabbit-hole-with_b_4022017.html|accessdate=28 May 2014|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=1 October 2013|archive-date=29 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052721/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/e-nina-rothe/down-the-rabbit-hole-with_b_4022017.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|last=Harmanci|first=Reyhan|title=Interested in the Jejune Institute? It's Too Late|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/us/22bcculture.html|accessdate=28 May 2014|newspaper=New York Times|date=21 April 2011|archive-date=10 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010223619/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/us/22bcculture.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Latitude Society === In 2015, Nonchalance opened the Latitude Society, an invite-only secret society and immersive experience.<ref name="Longreads">{{cite web |last1=Paulas |first1=Rick |title=‘We Value Experience’: Can a Secret Society Become a Business? |url=https://longreads.com/2015/09/24/we-value-experience-can-a-secret-society-become-a-business/ |website=Longreads |access-date=16 September 2022 |language=en |date=24 September 2015}}</ref> It featured a clubhouse, an arcade, and regular social events. The Latitude Society closed after one year, at least partially due to an operating cost of $3,000 per day.<ref name="Vice">{{cite web |last1=Laurensen |first1=Lydia |title=My Year in San Francisco’s $2 Million Secret Society Startup |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/my-year-in-san-franciscos-2-million-secret-society-startup/ |website=Vice.com |access-date=16 September 2022 |language=en |date=7 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="LongreadsClose">{{cite web |last1=Paulas |first1=Rick |title=Postscript: A Secret Society Shuts Its Doors |url=https://longreads.com/2015/10/20/postscript-a-secret-society-shuts-its-doors/ |website=Longreads |access-date=16 September 2022 |language=en |date=20 October 2015}}</ref>

=== SYGNYL === From 2021 to 2022, Nonchalance ran a podcast called ''SYGNYL'', "a participatory-arts podcast" inviting the audience to participate in "small collaborative acts in the real world."<ref name="EntertainmentEngine">{{cite web |last1=Moore |first1=Peter |title=The SYGNYL is a Participatory-arts Podcast that Subtly Invites listeners into a hidden world… |url=https://medium.com/the-entertainment-engine/the-sygnyl-is-a-participatory-arts-podcast-that-subtly-invites-listeners-into-a-hidden-world-c8243fad22b4 |website=The Entertainment Engine |access-date=16 September 2022 |language=en |date=15 February 2021}}</ref>

=== Awards === The Jejune Institute won "Best World" and "Best Story" at Indiecade 2010,<ref name="RemoteDevice">{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Jeff |title=Jeff Hull on The Games of Nonchalance: a guerrilla street war against banality and routine {{!}} remotedevice.net |url=https://remotedevice.net/interviews/jeff-hull-on-the-games-of-nonchalance-a-guerrilla-street-war-against-banality-and-routine/ |website=Remote Device |access-date=16 September 2022 |date=3 Jan 2011}}</ref> and "Best Alternate Reality" in the SF Bay Guardian's "Best of the Bay 2010".<ref name="BestOfBay">{{cite web |title=Best of the Bay 2009: City Living |url=https://sfbgarchive.48hills.org/sfbgarchive/2010/01/04/best-bay-2009-city-living/ |website=San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966–2014 |access-date=16 September 2022 |date=4 January 2010}}</ref>

==References== <references />

Category:Immersive entertainment Category:2000s establishments in California Category:IndieCade winners Category:Companies based in Oakland, California