The Sound FX multi-city campaign creatively promoted the network’s new Hulu shows, like What We Do in the Shadows, American Horror Story, Archer, and more. Partnering with famous artists and sculptural designers, FX Networks created three, unique, multisensory experiences in New York, Chicago, and L.A., based on drama, comedy, and horror themes.
With a focus on representing the soundscapes of each genre, the installation sites invited people to engage as deeply as they’d like – with the option to explore at your own pace, or take a virtual quiz that recommended the perfect FX show streaming on Hulu.
The combination of visually stunning sculptures and emotionally composed sounds helped create a fully immersive experience for FX fans. Each sculpture was designed to evoke the emotions that fans may experience while streaming the TV shows.
The campaign came as a result of the network looking for more in-person engagement opportunities that wouldn’t draw massive crowds – a pandemic-related concern for all experiential events. Instead of hosting a single event in each city, the sculptures were intended to draw in any curious spectator walking by, to interact with the installations at their own pace.
At New York City’s Hudson Yards Public Square & Gardens, SOFTlab design studio built a kaleidoscopic sound sculpture inspired by the drama genre, using two-way mirrors and sound-responsive lights.
Congress Plaza South in Chicago was home to an installation by artist Emilie Baltz, who is known for her work that engages the five senses. Baltz designed a large, light-up, sound-making harp to portray the comedy genre. Sounds came from the harp as the strings were touched.
“Inspired by the visual rhythm of modernist Chicago architecture, as well as the timing of great comedy the Windy City is known for, TEMPO is an interactive sculpture that uses metallic strings to create the world’s first 6-sided comedic harp. The strings reference both music making and music playing, inviting passersby to play this modern take on the sounds of FX-inspired comedy,” Baltz wrote on her Instagram.
In Los Angeles’ Grand Park, the women-owned design firm Vita Motus created a huge set of 3D printed, industrial wings to represent sci-fi and horror.
“The viewer is inserted and engulfed into a chaotic hive of audio, before moving into a relative aural sanctuary, vacillating between dissonance and harmony. A subversion of the ubiquitous angel wings of LA, the installation calls to a darker contingency, hoping to inspire new possibilities,” read the Downtown LA website.
“With all of our experiential programs, we look to create multiple layers so that fans and participants can engage as deep as they like,” said Kenya Hardaway, SVP of integrated promotions-multi-platform marketing at FX. “So it was another layer that we were able to incorporate into the experience where people dig a little deeper, and, of course, drive the message of the FX brand and viewing of the content.”
