PEXikstan – Immersive Environment 2013

Acting again as creative director at PEX, we converted a giant old barn into a fictional, once-part-of-old-Russia, country called “Pexikstan.” Guests had their papers checked outside at Border Control, where they were slipped a piece of microfiche and told to get it across the Trans-Siberian Pass. The guests would later learn that the microfiche is also a free drink pass. Once in the barn, they passed through the mind-washing room, to get re-programmed to “participate in The Party” via giant projections, propaganda posters and a mind-washing LED chair. Then they passed through the massive red curtains and golden eagle-emblazened archway into Red Square. With enough bribery they could make it into The Samovar, an elite tea room with hibiscus vodka drinks. Here they could sit above the crowd and watch the aerialists dangle dangerously from the barn rafters. Or visit a fortune teller. Or sing our national anthem which was projected in the mist every half hour, along with a choreographed dance. The final stop was the Trans-Siberian pass, a bridge that led out the side of the barn and into a well-hidden, blue velvet and gold decorated freezer truck (nicely cold!). For one piece of microfiche, guests imbibed Leninade (lemon vodka) or Red Scare (a mini bloody mary).