{"id":4302,"date":"2024-05-15T20:08:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T01:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kucd.kutztown.edu\/?page_id=4302"},"modified":"2025-06-04T12:32:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T17:32:36","slug":"mfa-graduate-research-project-kirk-demarais-ghostland","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/k120025well.kutztown.edu\/kucd\/index.php\/mfa-graduate-research-project-kirk-demarais-ghostland\/","title":{"rendered":"MFA Graduate Research Project | Kirk Demarais, Ghostland"},"content":{"rendered":"

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MFA Graduate Research Project | Kirk Demarais, Ghostland<\/h1>\n

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Kirk Demarais was a professional designer, artist, and author for a couple of decades before rolling an adjunct teaching gig into a full-time career. This move required an MFA, and Kutztown had everything he was looking for in a Master\u2019s program. Kirk likes to do dad and husband things. He also likes to nourish his mind and spirit and have fun in the process. He has many hobbies, all flavored with history and nostalgia. He likes to collect things that inspire him to create things. He\u2019s discovered that meaningless objects can often lead to meaningful experiences and relationships.<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”4389″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn” css=””][vc_column_text css=””]Ghostland is a live multimedia experience based on his thesis paper \u201cDesigns of the American Road Trip\u201d in which he explores numerous designs that have contributed to tourism since before the dawn of cars. He covered the histories of familiar vacation staples like travel brochures, souvenirs, and famous tourist traps. He also outlined the design principles and techniques unique to each format.<\/p>\n

Inspired by his findings, he created a fictional roadside attraction called Ghostland, a tourist trap on Route 66 that claimed to be the only place where people could find \u201ca real ghost in captivity.\u201d It opened in 1968 but was abandoned in 1984 because of a series of unexplained occurrences. He wrote a history of the attraction that ties into local legends that surround the real town of Avilla, MO, where the mythical destination resides.<\/p>\n

The Ghostland event was framed as an open house sponsored by a Real Estate agency that was trying to unload the property, despite some potentially dangerous paranormal activity. Guests were entertained by live dramatic elements and were shown a \u201cvintage\u201d souvenir videotape before entering the Ghostland premises. The tour ended when the ghost revealed itself.<\/p>\n

The goal was to create an experience that immersed visitors in an original story using video, scripted performances, and environmental design components like sound design, illusions, themed aromas, theatrical effects, and loads of historically inspired designs. These included era-specific branding, objects, ephemera, souvenirs, and more.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”site-inner”][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/_inzAzj8jGA?si=NJ1OoTjC2iCMb8Wl” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”site-inner-small”][vc_column][vc_masonry_media_grid element_width=”12″ gap=”0″ css=”” initial_loading_animation=”fadeIn” grid_id=”vc_gid:1749058342060-1da421fd-dd23-9″ include=”4305,4306,4307,4308,4309,4310,4311″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”site-inner-small”][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

More Work by Kirk<\/h3>\n

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Personal Zine:<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n
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A forty-page personal \u2018zine full of original content. The goal was to experiment with layouts in new ways while expressing personal interests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Room for Improvement System:<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n
A video that explores how aesthetics can improve mental health, and encourages graphic designers to use their talents to beautify the world.<\/div>\n
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View Video<\/a><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Route 66 Photomontage:<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n
Inspired by artists like Alexander Rodchenko, this is a series of photomontages based on the centennial anniversary of Route 66.<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_images_carousel images=”4397,4394,4393,4391″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_no” autoplay=”yes” wrap=”yes” css=””][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row el_class=”site-inner-small”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] MFA Graduate Research Project | Kirk Demarais, Ghostland [\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”4303″ img_size=”full” css_animation=”fadeIn” css=””][vc_column_text css=””] Kirk Demarais was a professional designer, artist, and author for a couple of decades before rolling an adjunct teaching gig into a full-time career. This move required an MFA, and Kutztown had everything he was looking for in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4302","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nMFA Graduate Research Project | Kirk Demarais, Ghostland - Kutztown University | Communication Design Department | Art & Design<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/k120025well.kutztown.edu\/kucd\/index.php\/mfa-graduate-research-project-kirk-demarais-ghostland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MFA Graduate Research Project | Kirk Demarais, Ghostland - Kutztown University | Communication Design Department | Art & Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row el_class=”site-inner-small”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] MFA Graduate Research Project | Kirk Demarais, Ghostland [\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”4303″ img_size=”full” css_animation=”fadeIn” css=””][vc_column_text css=””] Kirk Demarais was a professional designer, artist, and author for a couple of decades before rolling an adjunct teaching gig into a full-time career. 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