Quests:

Downloadable case studies

Past quests:

• Life on the Streets
• The Harry Red Affair
• The Arthurian Legend
• The Alex Coates Affair
• The Hooch Awards
• The Trousers of Time

The last year

Christmas Parties

The Hooch Awards

Antennae Audio the world’s leading producer of self-guided audio and audio-visual tours came to us with a brief for a team-building experience outside of the norm. As always we didn’t disappoint.

For this particular quest the three teams found themselves involved in the annual Hooch Prize, a fictional art prize awarded to the most innovative young artist working in London. At the request of one of the entrants, a young artist by the name of Charles Hope, the teams found themselves thrown headlong into the creation of their own art.

Mr Hope it transpired had not yet submitted his piece and needed the teams to help him create what he was sure would be the winning work. He had pioneered a new movement known as ‘First-Person Art’ which involved the viewing public in the work to a greater extent than ever before. When asked about the concept Charles said “FPA is all about the public creating my art but in their own unique way. I propose the theory but it is the individual who performs and creates the piece.”

Following his own rules Mr Hope asked the teams to create their own audio tour of the other entrants’ pieces. However, instead of recording the usual complimentary insights into the art, he required them to give their true feelings on his competitors’ efforts.

Embracing the challenge laid down to them, the teams set off to interview, interrogate, praise or condemn the artists and their work, creating an audio tour unlike any they had produced before.

Their adventure took them to the banks of the Thames to meet John Smith, the former eel fisher now creating art out of materials washed up on the beach where they helped the self-appointed ‘River-Man’ collect wood, bottles and whatever they could find for his latest project.

Then to the fountains on the South Bank where Macy Bevan, the current darling of the art world, explained the brash ethos behind ‘My Sofa’, her series of polaroids documenting the changing fortunes of her favourite piece of furniture over the course of a week.

A cryptic puzzle led them to the Soane Museum where they encountered the extraordinary figure of Herbert Von Cruzzmeijeir or ‘Dr Death’ and his morbid animal art.

A further riddle took them to the graffiti scrawl of the Dragon Bar to meet the urban artist Contact and his angry observations on the contradictions of modern society.

Now armed with their newly recorded works, the teams travelled to Shadwell and to the official awards ceremony. There they mingled with the artists and viewed their works in the flesh for the first time before presenting to all their own interpretations with the first airings of their own pieces. Much to everyone’s surprise the award was presented to Charles Hope who was unfortunately unable to attend. A representative of Antenna received it on his behalf. With the presentations out of the way the teams dived into the food and drink tired but happy that they had been their at the first annual Hooch Prize.