BRINGING THE OUTSIDE IN, WITH Artangel

Artangel · Freelance Marketing and Comms

Jan 23 · Somewhere in a box with moss

• Marketing strategy for online-only launch of film series

• Consulting with accessibility experts to improve Artangel comms

• Researching targeted press outreach and guiding PR on niche audiences

• Commissioned media partnerships with TANK Magazine (print advert and films screened on TANKtv) and Polyester Zine (review featured over TikTok, Instagram and X)

• Briefing designers, videographers and photographers

• Providing community management during online events and organising a user-generated content campaign

Unable to reach the outside world during the Covid-19 pandemic, Abi Palmer began a year-long process of performing the outside world for her indoor cats Cha-U-Kao and Lola Lola, translating each season into a cat-accessible format.

Using foraged and found materials from local wildlife, Palmer creates DIY performances staged within a series of seasonal boxes in her spare room, engaging with the cats through movement, sensory interaction, and play. Taking a crucial feature from each season, Palmer broke down the elements into four boxes using sensory found objects from local woodlands to reinvent the experience of autumn rain, winter fog, spring sunlight and summer heat. The processes Palmer used to convey each season ranged from literal: the fermentation and distillation of natural materials to recreate the smell of rain; to figurative: Palmer performed the role of the sun by using a disco ball and stitching moss together into a wire mesh surface.

For the debut of this entirely remote piece of work, I worked with Palmer and the Artangel team to create a marketing strategy celebrating each film. In the depths of winter we began a weekly launch series, bringing together hundreds of cat enthusiasts, Abi Palmer followers and Artangel fans for the screening of each film, followed by an electrifying watch party, hosted by Palmer.

Palmer’s work crossed over many niche internet audiences, so I chose to run two media partnerships with TANK Magazine and Polyester Zine, expanding the project’s reach beyond Artangel’s typical audiences. TANK Magazine featured the films on their TANKtv channel each week, driving traffic over to the watch parties on Thursday nights. Polyester Zine featured a review of the films across TikTok, Instagram and X (Twitter), speaking to a younger audience engaged on social platforms where Artangel was yet to build a following.

As we were presenting work from an artist with experience of disability, it was vital that all of Artangel’s comms exceeded industry standards for accessibility. I consulted with accessibility experts, as well as Abi herself, on best practice and elements of Artangel’s digital operations that needed improving.

Promoting an online-only series of films came with its challenges, but inventive trailers, user-generated content, in-depth research of niche target audiences and media partnerships helped us surpass our targets, reaching hundreds of viewers for each watch party.