JOIN THE THINK TANK AS WE INVITE MEOW WOLF AND PIZZABOYZZZ TO MAKE A SCENE OF THE FOODIE SELFIE TOUR SCENE AT
THE CHEESIEST TICKETED ATTRACTION IN LOS ANGELES, SUMMER 2019
Whatever way you slice it, the ticketed, pop-up, experiential environment is an international phenomenon and a mouthful of industry buzzwords that has no bigger audience worldwide than it does in Los Angeles. Before the tidal wave of food-themed selfie tours hit LA, Think Tank Gallery was producing such immersive attractions with artists from around the world, including the breakout Break Bread, a cake-themed experience that saw over 33,000 guests and 28 sold out events. Many more sold out, ticketed pop-ups shortly followed in local markets (some using Think Tank artists), and a new and lucrative industry was born, largely originating in DTLA.
We’re taking responsibility for what we’ve done. We helped get everyone into this mess. Now we’re making the most of it.
CHECK OUT A QUICK TOUR OF THE CRAZIEST PIZZA KITCHEN YOU’VE EVER SEEN IN YOUR LIFE, and then scroll down to come see for yourself
NOTHING CHEEZY IS THREE THINGS:
a weekly spotlight on a local pizza joint, alongside a free, rotating art show
a weekly merch drop and artist collaboration by Pizzaboyzz, and
a ticketed tour of the craziest kitchen you’ve ever seen – with some free fire thrown in – to see how the dough gets made.
THE SELF-AWARE SELFIE TOUR IS OPENING TO THE PUBLIC
JULY 20 AND RUNNING THROUGHOUT AUGUST 2019.
CLICK ON A SECTION BELOW TO GET CHEESY WITH US.
Installation Plans for 11 TBA environmental designs. Click to expand image and enjoy some PS2 era graphics!
Installation Plans for 11 TBA environmental designs. Click to expand image and enjoy some PS2 era graphics!
While the merchandise drops, rotating pizza art exhibits, nightly programming, and limited-time-only slices of pizza will be fun and fresh every week, the biggest draw of Nothing Cheezy is the walking tour of our sometimes satirical, sometimes street, crazy-ass pizza kitchen art experience. Unlike many other pop-ups, Nothing Cheezy features installations by artists making their own art, and focuses heavily on those artists. In fact, you should think of this show as a fine art exhibit with a ticketed selfie tour as its medium, typical of the rabbit-in-the-hat trick that has become Think Tank Gallery’s signature move for its hybrid art shows and immersive theatre events of the last decade.
12+ total environmental design pieces with added art and bar lounges will be created by Meow Wolf, Think Tank, and Bloody Gums artists.
They include Godzilla-scale pizza cities, evil pepperoni monsters, anime-obsessed and interactive 90s teenage boys rooms, and many other features that were the cheesiest things we could conjure.
Upon purchasing a slice of pizza or two, and getting a limited edition pin, guests will go through the kitchen doors to the insane back of house, and see how the dough gets made.
See who’s making it with us below.
In the tradition of Bloody Gums’ hit and run style, Nothing Cheezy will also feature a rotating gallery of pizza art and custom clothing in the front showroom, a mock pizza shop with tiled, framed artworks on the wall. To coincide with a Pizzaboyzzz merch drop every weekend, dozens of art pieces will be swapped out, providing a fresh menu with plenty of surprises every week.
SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW THE 12 LEAD ARTISTS WHO ARE CREATING
THE CHEESIEST SELFIE TOUR IN HISTORY, NUMBERED WITH THE MAP ABOVE.
(And if you have a small pizza-themed artwork you’d like to show in the weekly rotating gallery, we are now accepting submissions.)
INSTALLATION 1
@cheapslasherfilms is a practical special effects wizard and monster creator whose work has been featured in a variety of films, galleries, and even food-themed pop-ups. For Nothing Cheezy, the sculptor will present a cheesy beast emerging from the grungy depths of a back alley not unlike those you’ll traverse to get to our DTLA venue.
INSTALLATION 2
Meow Wolf presents the work of @utopia.us for Nothing Cheezy, a fabric-ator whose work takes commoditized consumer goods and commoditizes them even more. First put on our radar when he took apart a Digornio pizza box and turned it into the sickest satchel you’ve ever seen, sponsored by Digornia shortly thereafter, he’ll create a cosmic pizza party unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
INSTALLATION 3
@theninapalomba is known for her ever-growing universe of aerosol and digital illustration, Nina’s World. The characters that occupy Nina’s World have evolved into animation and even largescale, immersive artworks, the latter of which will take over a section of Nothing Cheezy. Expect to walk into a comic book panel with your friends.
INSTALLATION 4
Well-known NOLA tattoo artist @butchovision is a pull-no-punches kind of creator, and his collaboration with Think Tank Gallery director/producer @jmjpatterson for Nothing Cheezy is definitely a bold one. If you know the pop-up scene at which we’re taking jabs, then you might consider this installation a left hook. His “Cheesus Crust” figurine produced for Pizzaboyzzz has been a huge hit that will be heavily featured for this show.
INSTALLATION 5
@xtofux is almost mythical in his gargantuan style. If you look deep into his catalog or deep into the catacombs of many major cities, you’ll find colorful demons that spread across multiple stories of architecture. For Nothing Cheezy, the painter and sculptor is collaborating with Bloody Gums’ mafia head @Abars to work one of those demons into the very architecture of your selfie tour. Monumental is a good word for it.
INSTALLATION 6
For @berkvisual’s Nothing Cheezy installation, the analog video manipulator will take some time away from his tactile Hip Hop music video cuts to present a huge, interactive media stack. Telephones, computers, VHS players, and tube TVs make up an impressive scene that is only the vessel to share this artists’ really trippy stuff: the content that plays inside it all.
INSTALLATION 7
The Slice is Right, and Isa @gentlethrills Beniston presents the weirdest prize wheel you’ve ever seen, full of her signature, loopy airbrush work. One of the more interactive pieces in the experience, watchful visitors will notice a slice missing from her piece. Put it back together and you’ll get an added, un-selfie-able bonus to your tour.
INSTALLATION 8
All of this kicked off with water color magician @bakersson, after our 2016 experience Break Bread featuring the artist paired with his Bay Area neighbor Scott Hove took off at our old Fashion District location. Shortly thereafter, the new pop-up industry attempted to absorb and rob Baker’s Son of his own work, to no avail. He survived and thrived, and has gone on to produce installations, insane water color paintings and sculptures, and largescale buildouts for some huge brands and restaurants, while maintaining a clever integrity and smart messaging throughout every piece. His work for Nothing Cheezy may be the most biting and sharp-witted piece that the foodie pop-up scene has ever seen. Period.
INSTALLATION 9
Only three words are truly needed to describe @anta52’s wild, interactive installation for the Nothing Cheezy experience: 30, Foot, Godzilla. Or you could try: Putt, Putt, Golfzilla. In any case, the illustrator and Bloody Gums merch maestro is taking on an ambitious undertaking with the most massive of all monsters. Teaming up with our engineer, he’s also placed a huge surprise for those coy enough to defeat the beast, leading to a secret room.
BONUS INSTALLATION
Meow Wolf initially joined forces with the Think Tank on Nothing Cheezy for one major reason, when @futurefantasydelight and Pizzaboyzzz started a limited edition merchandise drop that will take place in our showroom with an interactive installation to match. The artist’s work may be best known from its room at Santa Fe’s House of Eternal Return, and for Nothing Cheezy he will create another room in a much different House. Should you find your way inside, you’ll enjoy the artist’s teenage, 90s bedroom, complete with his original anime cartoons to watch and his favorite Sega Dreamcast games to play.
INSTALLATION 10
To walk through @balloonski’s installation is to traverse the Heavens, passing through an archway of pearly gates that may be more latex than pearls. A winding path leads guests from their doom as the pizza box city of Tokyo has been torn down before them, to reach out for the hands of God. What better offering would those hands carry than an infinite supply of cheesy pepperoni for the eternal pizza party in the sky?
PIZZA SHOP HEADLINING INSTALLATION
Beginning the cheesiest tour of their lives, guests will walk through a façade of dropping cheese and pepperonis that has become a Grimeyworld staple. Your self-guided tour would not be complete without the Los Dumpies crew leading the way, and when you’re done you’ll join a pizza party with every last one of the homies in the Los Dumpies Arcade. Grab a slice of pizza, buy exclusive merch, play some arcades and enjoy the work of one of GIPHY’s most prolific artists in an interactive lounge designed by our Headlining Artist, @deladeso.
PLUS MANY, MANY MORE TBA.
Check back here soon for announcements on a rotating exhibit of small, for-sale, pizza-themed artworks at our pizzeria in the Showroom!
THE WORLD HAS NEVER BEEN THE SAME SINCE IT MET THE
ECLECTIC ART COLLECTIVE THAT IS MEOW WOLF.
Don’t just listen to us, let the New York Times or countless other media outlets attempt to describe the magic that is this industry-shifting titan. They’ve supported Think Tank for years now, and we’re happy to bring them to LA for our deepest collab with them yet.
Meow Wolf’s Future Fantasy Delight will be co-producing an art installation and exclusive merch with Utopia US for Nothing Cheezy.
The thing that sets Think Tank Gallery & Showroom apart from commercial gallery spaces more than any other is its integration of dance parties, supper clubs, comedy shows and more into the artistic expression of its exhibits. Refusing to host a large opening party and then let gallery hours sit empty for a couple weeks until its closing, the Think Tank taps local and international event producers during the planning stages of a show to pack the house – or present intimate, VIP experiences – on a daily or nightly basis.
Nothing Cheezy will be no different.
In addition to the daily ticketed experience and rotating artwork and pizza specials, Pizzaboyzz and crew will collaborate with various brands to bring cooking classes, cannabis samplings, beat producer showcases and more to the show, even collaborating with neighboring venues for larger crowds. Expect a full calendar soon, and pick up our Mystery Early Bird Combo Pack below.
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WEEKLY ART SHOW AND MERCHANDISE DROP
Collaborations with a variety of local and international artists, including @futurefantasydelight, @gentlethrills, @_sheryo, @_theyok, @jimbophillips, @araxcho, @butchovision, @anta52, @xtofux, @deladeso, @bloodygums and many more will make for a huge selection of exclusive pins and other merch featured in our free gallery and showroom up front. Past works and fresh new recipes will stock the shelves on a weekly basis.
Pizzaboyzzz merch drops sell out, immediately and often.
Check back here soon for announcements so you don’t miss one.
CONTACT US
We are currently seeking clever partners who can make light-hearted but high quality artworks, collaborations, and products with us for the thousands of guests who will come to Nothing Cheezy. To join us please contact us with an idea or to see our menu of available sponsorships.