What if Salvador Dalí created an app? How could the app capture contradictory conditions between the real and the subconscious?
The Staring Contest app captured contradictory conditions between the real and the subconscious by turning a two-person game into a digital one that gave users only the illusion of having an actual opponent. Players picked their battles against Dalí himself and other felicitous characters, such as a proxy for Andy Warhol and other surprise visitors.
The app launched in conjunction with the Museum’s special exhibition, Warhol: Art. Fame. Mortality. Warhol: Art. Fame. Mortality., which considered Warhol’s little-commented-on engagement with other artists through his own painting, how he constructed an approach to his image in terms of celebrity and fame and his treatment of painting and image regarding human mortality.
Complementing the Museum’s cross-platform advertising campaign, which highlighted the Warhol exhibit, the app carried its own mini marketing campaign, including a :30 promo video online and a two hour promo video spoof on the unbeatable contest. Mirror decals (“You vs. You”) were also displayed on the Museum’s restroom mirrors.
The Staring Contest app was a joint effort between The Dalí Museum and Goodby Silverstein & Partners.