2020 has been a year like no other. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of people are working from home, social gatherings are either outright not allowed or strongly discouraged and as we head into the holidays, a lot of seasonal gatherings are disrupted this year as well including the traditional work holiday party. Now, Miller Lite is saying farewell to the holiday work party institution with a new art installation by visual artist Alex Prager.
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Miller Lite teamed up with Prager to create an actual art installation to memorialize the “cringiest moments” of work holiday parties. The installation, named “Farewell Holiday Work Parties,” features hyperrealist sculptural figures created by Prager which are on display outdoors at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and in a virtual experience LACMA.org. The figures will also be featured in a corresponding campaign, the video for which you can check out here.
“With many companies nixing the traditional holiday party, we’re focused on the silver lining – more time with a few real friends, which is what Miller Time is all about,” said Courtney Carter Dugan, director of activation for Miller Lite. “Not having to make awkward small talk or being forced to take photobooth pictures with coworkers is a holiday gift in and of itself.”
The campaign, created in partnership by DDB Chicago and San Francisco, began with a simple question: if the pandemic cancelled traditional work holiday parties, would anyone miss them? Probably not. Enter: Tis Miller Time. Miller Time embodies the moments when friends can come together and be themselves, and that is often far from what you’d expect at the work holiday parties of the past. When dreaming up a party filled with an array of characters in uncanny situations, the team initially referenced Alex Prager’s work, and was ultimately able to partner with her to create the artwork.
“Miller Lite and DDB trusted me to make 15 life sculptures with complete creative autonomy. It’s one of those dream collaborations that comes along once every 5 years or so,” said Alex Prager, artist behind the Miller Lite campaign. “It touches on many things I’ve been exploring in my artistic practice – the line between reality and artifice and how we find ways to connect as humans through both raw emotion and performance, or projected realities. This year has been a disaster in terms of connecting with people we share common realities with, so I was very excited to work on a project that is ultimately about love and the human condition seen through an elegant and humorous lens.”
“Alex Prager, a renowned L.A.-based artist who is represented in LACMA’s collection, is always working on the boundaries of art and film,” said exhibition curators Rita Gonzalez, Terri and Michael Smooke Curator and Department Head of Contemporary Art at LACMA, and Liz Andrews, Executive Administrator, Director’s Office. “We’re excited to host an installation of new Los Angeles work, for which Prager engaged a local Hollywood special effects company with Miller Lite’s generous investment.”
The outdoor installation, sponsored by Miller Lite, will be open and free to the public at LACMA starting Saturday, November 21 and will run through January 3, 2021. It will be held on the museum’s Smidt Welcome Plaza, following strict distancing and safety protocols. For more information and hours, visitors can go to LACMA.org.
In addition to the art installation, Miller Lite is also giving away 6-packs for those spending the holidays at home More information on that can be found on Twitter or MillerLite.com.
What do you think of Miller Lite’s “Farewell Work Holiday Parties” art installation in partnership with artist Alex Prager? Let us know in the comments.
