The World of Experiential Designer Adam Aleksander

Information overload in the digital space has turned social relationships into a mirage of connectivity. Yet, there still exists a promised land full of magicians whose sole purpose is to create worlds for you to make actual real memories.

Enter Adam Aleksander, a New York-based set designer who wears many hats in the creative community: art director, carpenter, producer, promoter and costume designer. Appealing to the quiet child in us all who still craves fantasy from our sometimes all-too-real lives, Adam conjures up dreamscapes to reel us in, re-ignite our jaded states and throw us back out the door, brushing stardust off our shoulders.

Leaving the School of Visual Arts hungry to learn more practical skills, he took up an internship with Randy Carfagno. Working his way up over 5 years he acquired set design skills, perfected ways to source material in this treasure trove of a city and acquired a philosophy towards costumes as ‘super multi-media.’

Racking up an experience list that includes prop styling for Madonna’s 2008 World Tour; the Macys Day Parade and Flower Show; Christmas windows for Saks and Lord & Taylor; clients such as Formavision’s Coca Cola Museum, Godiva and Victoria’s Secret, Adam Aleksander found that carving one’s own path might just get you Alice’s Wonderland.

Your events designs veer on the fantasy and at times, absurd; what has been your inspiration for creating this signature aesthetic?

My inspiration derives from my childhood in the early 90′s having been immersed in television, video games, and later the internet. Everyday when I came home from school, I would dive into the digital world. It was an addiction that lasted into my teens. I needed to be in fantasy. Now I purposely stay away from all that stuff and try to live as much as I can in the real world. I funnel that desire to escape to create fantastical experiences from it. Also, my mother owned and framing store filled with thousands of prints of artwork. Nothing was real. Everything was a duplicate. When I started working in my mother’s store, every customer told me that they hated “modern art.” They just wanted something simple to understand, void of pretension, and really well done.

You have become renowned for your underground art salon events and themed dinner events, why do you think there has been such a hungry response?

Anne Apparu (the chef I work with) and I were just discussing this the other day. People deal with so much terrible stuff in their daily lives; I want to give them an escape and something real that they can dive into that will make them happy. As a whole, we are increasingly living in a digital world. Now more than ever, it is so relevant to make art in the real world based on a real experience. I have a lot of experiences going to tons of clubs and working in bars and restaurants but lately they’re all the same – people want something new, exciting and exclusive. With my events I consistently focus on the “Why should people come?” and rethink every element of the experience. The purpose of these supper clubs is to recreate bars and restaurants in an ideal way. I bring people out of their shells by making it be weird and funky. I make people feel glamorous and in-the-know where there’s no pressure to spend money – it’s simply an enjoyable design to foster social interaction and fun!

How has social media played a part in the development of your business?

I use Facebook and Twitter to reel in private clients to hire me. It’s absolutely tremendous at convincing prospective clients who can see posted pictures of my events in the production process, or publicity articles, radio interviews, etc. Social media is great because people want to be communicated with in a non-confrontational way. If I have a perspective I will never write to them and say “Hey, so when are we going do this event?” or “Do you want to buy a ticket?”. Instead I will invite them to something really awesome or show them so that they can physically see what I’m doing. People want to see not hear. Think of all this as the tasty lure on the end of the fishing hook.

Another thing I do to promote my brand is to create artist salons with food writer, Jenny Miller. We get together the most inspiring and influential people in our lives to meet for a networking dinner in an abandoned tenement and each month we feature three of the most unique and talented artists you’ve ever seen. I gain real joy in bringing people together which then enables me to do more dinner parties under refine ideas of how to perfect social environment. So you see, I have created my own form of social media to promote my own brand in a manner that I am skilled at.

What kind of creative process do you go through to execute your projects and how do you collect your inspirations?

For me the Artistic Process works in 5 phases: information gathering, illumination, elaboration, execution and review.

Information Gathering
I decided in 2005 I decided I wanted to do these all-encompassing themed events. For the last 4 years I’ve been working hard to train and develop the skills I need to create these vivid worlds. I started out by learning how to making giant elaborate costumes from scratch. Then I learned carpentry and multi-media, which led me into props and fabrication. Finally I went into set design, creating entire rooms filled with fantasy. In the meanwhile I learned to cook giant meals, run dinner parties and mix drinks.

Illumination
The creative process is kind of funny. Often times it’s just that bizarre idea which can inspire an entire event. There is no logic to it. That’s the way it is with a lot of successful artists. If it’s not a silly idea, usually it’s a unique venue. For me, a venue can inspire an entire event.

Elaboration
After the initial conception, I go and build the meat of the concept by researching libraries, museums, and watch a ton of music videos on You Tube aided by strong espresso. These ideas keep me up at night. I can’t stop. I’m usually building 6-8 stories/concepts at a time. If I get an idea, I just write it down. If I sit with the concept long enough, I then combine it with another to create a stronger and more unique concept. Creating the concept building takes a ton of time but is often the most fun for me.

Execution
I either execute the idea on my own and sell tickets or am hired by a client. If a client hires me, I then take their idea and combine one of the stored concepts to make it gold.

Review
I play the whole scenario over and over in my head and figure out how I can make the experience more enjoyable for the guests the next time.

What can we expect next from Adam Aleksander?

Most of my events are for private clients. But I do have a few I’d love for inspiring people such as the readers of PSFK to attend. I’m beginning a new series of events the public can attend in May. Let’s just say, the venue will be a real Catholic School and you will have a kneejerk reaction to the concept. I’ve started a new Artist’s Salon, for artists of every media to meet and be inspired, Les Salonnieres. We meet, inspire each other, and share work. If you email me with samples of what you do, I’d love to put you on the list. On May 14th, I will be representing Makers Mark Bourbon at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic for “The Gala” at The 42nd St. Library. In June, my “Marie Antoinette’s Boudoir” party will be featured on an episode of the TLC Show, “Cakeboss”. I’m also planning a performance based fashion show for Yana Handbags scheduled for May. After all this, I plan to reimagine the romance that NY underground nightlife once was….

Adam Aleksander