Joshuah Jest

Biography

Joshuah Jest is an architecturally-trained designer and video artist whose work focuses on blurring the boundaries between the digital and physical worlds. Jest's work synthesizes his architectural design background at Rice University (B.Arch) and Thomas Phifer and Partners (NYC) with his experience developing video installations, media facades, and digitally augmented objects at Urbanscreen (Bremen, Germany) and Geist (Houston, TX).

His current work implements and continues to explore the subject matter of his graduate thesis ("Fooling Ourselves: Topics and Design Strategies for Media Architecture, Integrated Media, and Composite Reality") which was developed at MIT’s program in Art, Culture, and Technology from 2015 through 2018.

Jest’s growing body of work seeks to reverse the paradigm of immersion, wherein the viewer enters a virtual sensory landscape by leaving the real world partly behind. Instead, he wants emersion - for us to keep our feet firmly planted where they are, and allow the content of a video display to emerge into our space. Here, in our natural surroundings, information and synthetic images are not immediately dismissed by the mind as immaterial signals to be left to higher (and less essential) processing, but are instead interpreted as indications of material consequence. Staged in this way, digital information and synthetic images can be perceived by a wider array of human senses and processed more deeply by the hindbrain, leading to deeper sympathy, emotional provocation, understanding, and retention of content. To achieve this effect, Jest’s wide range of works laminate various information display systems into works of architecture, installation, sculpture, and fashion.

ARCHITECTURAL AND INTEGRATED MEDIA CONSULTATION, DESIGN & PRODUCTION SERVICES SUMMARY

CONSULTATION______________________________
We work with and advise clients interested in creating one-of-a-kind visual experiences, particularly those that utilize LED, projection, or other multimedia systems. From our experience executing numerous bespoke projects from ranging from boutique private events to the permanent installation of building-scale media facades we can offer insight into the many elements that make up a successful project, including conceptual development, selecting the right technologies, branding, fundraising and utilizing public and private sources of funding, creating self-sustaining program/venue revenue models, assembling a comprehensive team, building media platforms that will create a self-generating audience, and optimizing installations for social media impact and sustainable growth.

DESIGN______________________________________
We specialize in integrating one-of-a-kind visual art installations with architecture. To do this we combine a strong foundation of rigorous architectural design with equally strong sense of visual aesthetics, video and lighting technologies, and doing stuff that makes people stop on their tracks and say "Whoa". Design services include:

Schematic design (SD) which often includes video-renderings and scale mockups
Design development (DD) which involves technology specification and the production of to-scale prototypes
Construction/installation documents (CD)

CONTENT PRODUCTION____________________
We do it all, and if we don't, we know the people who do. In house production services include:

Animation, interactive design, photography, live-action film, video post production and editing, musical composition, sound design, audio recording, audio production and editing, etc.

FABRICATION_______________________________
Thanks to our network of specialists if we can design it, you can have it built. While our in house fabrication services include intricate sculptural works, architectural models, and more, we often partner with specialist to get the job done. For past jobs we have become resident welders, metal-workers, seamsters, electronics fabricators, mold-makers, sand-casters, and porcelain-bakers at the facilities of our various industrial-scale partners to ensure our boutique projects are executed to match expectations.

INSTALLATION____________________________
We usually bring in some muscle for this part, but we like to get our hands dirty to ensure everything is just right. Installation services include coordinating with other design firms, contractors, electricians, government agencies, and inspectors to ensure our projects are put in place, stay in place, and stay safe. Installations are monitored for quality assurance.

MISCELLANEOUS_________________________
Aside from our specialty we also dabble in tangential fields and services, some of which include:

Website design, UI/UX design, lighting design, graphic / advertising design, publication design / formatting, grant-writing, writing copy, editing copy, event planning, disk-jockeying, video jockeying, and more.