Gaga's "ARTPOP Pop Up:" A Combination of Art + Commerce

ARTPOP's Album Cover

Lady Gaga's latest music project, ARTPOP, was just released this past Monday, November 11th, 2013. To possibly give a bigger push of publicity and interactivity for the promotion of the album, she did a special party titled "artRAVE" on Sunday, Nov. 10th at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (read more here), and open two 3-Day pop up stores, one in NY and the other in LA.  Being the huge Mother Monster fan that I am, I knew I had to go to see it.

"Swine Mask" 

Located in the Meatpacking district of New York City, specifically in the luxury fashion store area, "ARTPOP Pop Up: A Lady Gaga Gallery," is an interesting and strategic partnership that blends the cross between "art and commerce" for sure. It showcased artistic works from Lady Gaga and other artists that have worked with her, and integrates other companies' products (Beats headphones and Just Dance) to celebrate one of the most anticipated albums of the year by the theatrical superstar. You can also read Zack O'Malley Greenburg's Forbes article analyzing the Pop Up store right this way. 

A few of the "Artpop" Lyrics

The pop up store/ art gallery was very simple. It had several lyrics from songs such as "Dope," "Artpop," and "Venus" (one of my favorites from the album), a Beats headphone/ photo opp section (check the slideshow below for my photo), a Just Dance area near the entrance of the store where attendees could dance to "Applause,"  posters of singles from the album, a small area to buy merchandise (i.e. t-shirts) and albums, a section to express your creativity with chalk, lost of music, and of course, some of her most notable outfits.

"Bone Dress": She wore this on the "Applause" music video

There were about 9 costumes in this small exhibit, and I have to say that I realized something when I closely saw them: they are actually very simple.  I think it is inspiring for other people because it shows that any of us can create something, in this way displaying our ideas visually. An "Applause" for Gaga for allowing the public to see up close some of her Out of This World stage outfits.  

Although I wish there were more things on display at the store (maybe because I went the last day), Lady Gaga is definitely pushing the boundaries in terms of marketing tactics to promote her newest product, ARTPOP. 

Check out more photos below!!! 

The gallery/ store opened between November 11th-13th.

Fact: 20 of the Limited Edition albums sold at the store contained A Golden Ticket,"...Like Willie Wonka" - as quoted from one of the store associates.  This ticket is for a Lady Gaga VIP concert, with Meet and Greet included.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

An Art Workshop to Remember Our Love Ones and The Ones We Admire

This is the mini Altar I made! Photo by Mia Roman.

© 2013. Angely Martinez. All Rights Reserved.

This year's life and career explorations have allowed me to do things that I never thought I would do. However, I miss doing visually artistic work.  So the minute I heard about the Adult Mini Altar Workshop with Mia Roman, which took place on November 2nd, 2013, I could not wait to go and see what I would end up creating.

The Workshop was part of  the "Día de Los Muertos: El Barrio" presented by Viajero Borish at the Julia De Burgos Cultural Center.  This art installation's mission is to bring the community together to honor the love ones that are no longer in this world by adding objects to the altar.  This is the third workshop I attended with Mia Roman,  who is a fantastic artist, Frida Kahlo fan, and very proud of her Latin American roots.

When I first got to the workshop, which ironically was at the same building I went to high school years ago, I did not know exactly how I would decorate my box. I started with glittering a white plastic flower, then drawing wavy lines, and then adding more things.  It was a colorful journey of transforming a plain white box into a fun, complicated, and overly crazy piece that I never thought I would do.

At some point, it was as if all my creative thoughts exploded in the class.  At some point, I could not stop adding more and more objects, and transforming those small objects into something else.  I added more and more until I could not add anymore. Everything combined, turned the small white box into a beautiful altar. 

Everyone created beautiful boxes, some of them of their grandmothers and others of family members.  It was a collective environment in which everyone brought their own identity into what they did.  I had never done an art class about El Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Once again, I stepped out of my comfort zone.

To find out more information about Art by Mia Roman, you can check her website, and to purchase her work, you can check her Etsy Shop.

To find out more information on "Día De Los Muertos: El Barrio," check out Dia De Los Muertos Collective. This art installation/ exhibition will be opened until November 15th at the Julia De Burgos Cultural Center, 1680 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY.

Check out more photos below of the workshop! You can also check my Pinterest Board as well. 

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Until Next Time. A+F by AM.

All photos by Mia Roman