Jeff Hull (artist)

Last updated
Jeff Hull
Born1969 (age 54–55)
Other namesBobby Peru [1]
Notable work Oaklandish, The Jejune Institute
Parent Blair Hull

Jeff Hull (born 1969) is an artist and producer from Oakland, California. He is known for creating the Oakland-based fashion line and street art campaign Oaklandish, the immersive experiences The Jejune Institute [2] and The Latitude Society. Hull's work was the topic of the documentaries The Institute and In Bright Axiom, and was the inspiration for the television show Dispatches from Elsewhere .

Contents

Oaklandish

Oaklandish began in 2000 as a street art and viral marketing campaign designed to raise awareness about local history and culture. [3] [4]

Their first project was “An Oakland Love Retrospective” slide show of 130 images of the “Saints & Sinners of the Town” which was projected onto architectural landmarks downtown. [5] Other projects included a wheatpaste street poster series, [6] the Oakslander Lakeside Gazette independent zine, [7] and events including the Lake Merritt Radio Regatta, [8] the Liberation Drive-In [9] and games of urban capture the flag at Civic Center Plaza. [10]

From 2003 to 2005, Hull ran the Oaklandish Gallery in Oakland's produce district with artist Senay "Refa1" Dennis. It shut in 2005 after failing to obtain permits and meet city fire codes. [11] A split between Hull and Dennis brought the popular symbol of the "rooted" oak tree into an ownership dispute. [1]

In 2016, the store was named the 38th fastest growing inner city business in the United States by Fortune . [12]

The Jejune Institute

In 2008, Hull created The Jejune Institute with Sara Thacher and Uriah Findley, an alternate reality game, public art installation and immersive experience that ran in San Francisco, California from 2008 to 10 April 2011. [13]

In 2013, a documentary about the project was released by Spencer McCall, titled “The Institute.” It suggested that The Jejune Institute “combined a Fluxus stunt, a freelance crowd-psychology experiment, a ludic self-help workshop, interactive promenade theatre, and some traditional hipster bullshit.” [14]

Over the course of three years, it enrolled more than 10,000 players who, responding to eccentric flyers plastered all over the city, started the game by receiving their "induction" at the fake headquarters of the Institute, located in an office building in San Francisco's Financial District. [15] [16] The Jejune Institute received the Best Alternative Reality award from the San Francisco Bay Guardian. [17] It also received the Best Story and Best World awards at Indiecade. [18] [19]

Film and TV Series

Hull's project The Jejune Institute was the subject of the 2013 documentary film The Institute directed by Spencer McCall. [20]

The television show Dispatches from Elsewhere created by Jason Segel is based on the documentary and Segel's experience going through Hull's project The Latitude Society. [11] [21] [2]

Other work

Jeff Hull created the “I Fly Oak” logo for the Oakland International Airport. [22]

Hull also developed The Latitude Society, a project, that combined a secret society, art, and game elements. [23] [24] It was the subject of a documentary film titled In Bright Axiom, directed by Spencer McCall and executive produced by Hull. [25]

Filmography

TitleTypeYearExecutive ProducerWriterArt directorRef
Battleground: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge Documentary film2004YesNoNo [26]
American Blackout Documentary film2006YesNoNo [27]
The Institute Documentary film2012NoYesYes [20]
In Bright AxiomDocumentary film2019YesYesYes [25]
Dispatches from Elsewhere Television series2020YesYesNo [21]

Related Research Articles

The San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC), formerly known as San Francisco Film Critics Circle, was founded in 2002 as an organization of film journalists and critics from San Francisco, California based publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco</span>

This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco, California, United States. Latitude and longitude coordinates are provided for many National Register properties and districts; these locations may be seen together in an online map.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molly McKay</span> American lawyer

Molly B. McKay is an American attorney and a civil rights activist for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. McKay was the former Co-Executive Director of Marriage Equality California and the former Media Director for Marriage Equality USA. She has also been active in Californians for Same Sex Marriage and the California Freedom to Marry Coalition, and was the Associate Executive Director of Equality California. McKay married her longtime partner Davina Kotulski in 2004 when Gavin Newsom made same sex marriage legal for one day in San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Bay Ferry</span> Public transit passenger ferry service in the San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay Ferry is a public transit passenger ferry service in the San Francisco Bay, administered by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) and operated under contract by the privately owned, Blue and Gold Fleet. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 1,787,400, or about 10,400 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

San Antonio is a large district in Oakland, California, encompassing the land east of Lake Merritt to Sausal Creek. It is one of the most diverse areas of the city. It takes its name from Rancho San Antonio, the name of the land as granted to Luís María Peralta by the last Spanish governor of California.

The San Francisco and Oakland Railroad (SF&O) was built in 1862 to provide ferry-train service from a San Francisco ferry terminal connecting with railroad service through Oakland to San Antonio. In 1868 Central Pacific Railroad decided that Oakland would be the west coast terminus of the First transcontinental railroad and bought SF&O. Beginning November 8, 1869, part of the SF&O line served as the westernmost portion of the transcontinental railroad. It subsequently was absorbed into the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). The track in Oakland was electrified in 1911 and extended across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1939. Service was abandoned in 1941.

The Hubba Hubba Revue is a San Francisco–based neo-burlesque and variety show which opened in September 2006 and continues with weekly and monthly shows in San Francisco and Oakland.

Cass Calder Smith, FAIA is an American architect. He and his firm, Cass Calder Smith Architecture + Interiors, are known for high-profile restaurant designs in San Francisco, California, and New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katastrophe (rapper)</span> American rapper

Rocco Kayiatos, known professionally as Katastrophe and in some later releases as Rocco Katastrophe, is an American rapper.

Crime in Oakland, California began to rise during the late 1960s after the King assassination riots, and by the end of the 1970s Oakland's per capita murder rate had risen to twice that of San Francisco or New York City. In 1983, the National Journal referred to Oakland as the "1983 crime capital" of the San Francisco Bay Area. Crime continued to escalate during the 1980s and 1990s, and during the first decade of the 21st century Oakland has consistently been listed as one of the most dangerous large cities in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oaklandish</span> American fashion line and retail store

Oaklandish is a fashion line and retail store located in Oakland, California, in the United States. The company logo is a modified version of the city logo, an oak tree with wide outspread roots. 10% of the proceeds from the sales of Oaklandish items goes to local non-profit community groups through the "Oakland Innovators Award" grant program. Everything sold in the store is screen-printed in Oakland. In 2016, the store was named the 38th fastest growing inner city business in the United States by Fortune.

<i>The Institute</i> (2013 film) 2012 documentary film

The Institute is a 2012 documentary film directed by Spencer McCall reconstructing the story of The Jejune Institute, an alternate reality game set in San Francisco, through interviews with the participants and the creators. The game was produced in 2008 by Oakland-based artist Jeff Hull. Over the course of three years, it enrolled more than 10,000 players who, responding to eccentric flyers plastered all over the city, started the game by receiving their "induction" at the fake headquarters of the Institute, located in an office building in San Francisco's Financial District.

Tracie Collins is an actress, writer, theatre director and producer Collins is best known as the writer, director, and producer of her fourth stage production Cold Piece of Werk, which addresses human trafficking / sex trafficking, specifically in the East Bay city of Oakland, California.

The Oakland Royals is a children's and youth baseball team in a neighborhood of Oakland, California locally known as Ghost Town, that was founded in 2004 for children ages four to thirteen. It was founded by Roscoe Bryant and a film was made about it by Gene Corr in 2010, called Ghost Town to Havana.

<i>Dispatches from Elsewhere</i> American television series

Dispatches from Elsewhere is an American drama television series created by and starring Jason Segel that premiered on March 1, 2020, on AMC. It is based on the documentary film The Institute about the alternate reality game The Jejune Institute.

Sara Thacher is an American game and experience designer. She is one of the founders of the San Francisco-based immersive experience The Jejune Institute and works as a creative director and senior R&D Imagineer at Walt Disney Imagineering, including creative leadership on the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser two-day immersive Disney experience.

The Jejune Institute was an alternate reality game, public art installation and immersive experience that ran in San Francisco, California from 2008 to 10 April 2011. It was conceived by Jeff Hull and launched by the arts group Nonchalance in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonchalance</span> American design consultancy group

Nonchalance began as an art collective in Oakland, CA around 2002 and later in 2008 was transformed into a design consultancy group. Their work focuses on interactive, immersive art installations, which they call "situational design".

Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco is an American contemporary art museum that opened in October 2022, and is located in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Admission is free.

References

  1. 1 2 Miller, D. Scot (7 June 2006). "Oaklandish Uprooted, Replanted". East Bay Express. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 Miller, Liz Shannon (1 March 2020). "Jason Segel got wrapped up in a strange game. Then he made it a TV show". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  3. ↑ Marech, Rona (23 August 2002). "Oakland artists celebrate ignored beauty / Video festival, Web sites focus on city". SF Gate. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  4. ↑ "On sellouts, guerrilla spirit and Oakland as hella cool". Chat & Selfie. Los Angeles Times. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  5. ↑ ""Best Public Art"". East Bay Express. 2002. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  6. ↑ Swan, Rachel (11 February 2004). ""Oakland Loves Outlaws"". East Bay Express. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  7. ↑ St. Clair, Katy (15 January 2003). ""There-There-There"". East Bay Express. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  8. ↑ Green, Matthew (22 August 2007). ""Lake Merritt merriment: Radio Regatta promises fun on the water"". SF Gate. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  9. ↑ Marech, Rona (23 August 2002). ""Oakland Artists Celebrate Ignored Beauty"". SF Gate. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  10. ↑ Tudor, Silke (16 July 2003). ""You, Too, Can Be in Movies!"". SF Weekly. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  11. 1 2 Miller, D. Scot (4 March 2020). "Dispatches From Nowhere with Jeff Hull". East Bay Express. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "Oaklandish". Fortune. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  13. ↑ Paulas, Rick (11 March 2011). "Last Chance: The Mysteries of San Francisco's Creepy Jejune Institute". The Awl. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  14. ↑ Patterson, Troy (2020-02-28). "On AMC's "Dispatches from Elsewhere," Jason Segel Plays with Convoluted Ways of Telling Straight Stories". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  15. ↑ Rothe, E. Nina (1 October 2013). "Down the Rabbit Hole with Spencer McCall's The Institute". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  16. ↑ Harmanci, Reyhan (21 April 2011). "Interested in the Jejune Institute? It's Too Late". New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 October 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "Best of the Bay 2009: City Living". San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966–2014. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  18. ↑ "Adventure Design Group: Nonchalance, January 22 2014". www.thegogame.com. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  19. ↑ "2010 It Takes a Village".
  20. 1 2 Rothe, E. Nina (1 October 2012). "Down the Rabbit Hole with Spencer McCall's The Institute". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  21. 1 2 Phipps, Keith (February 10, 2020). "Dispatches from Elsewhere Review: Jason Segel Returns to TV With a Bold, Unpredictable Series". TV Guide . Archived from the original on February 17, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Dispatches From Nowhere with Jeff Hull". East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  23. ↑ Longreads (2015-09-24). "'We Value Experience': Can a Secret Society Become a Business?". Longreads. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  24. ↑ Laurenson, Lydia (2016-03-07). "My Year in San Francisco's $2 Million Secret Society Startup". Vice. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  25. 1 2 DeFore, John (2019-11-19). "'In Bright Axiom': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  26. ↑ Harvey, Dennis (2004-11-02). "Battleground: 21 Days on the Empire's Edge". Variety. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  27. ↑ Koehler, Robert (2006-01-31). "American Blackout". Variety. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.