Casino Dreamscape

The intermingling smells of cigarette smoke and liquor, the sounds of a hundred slot machines playing at once, the bright neon lights and tacky carpets, and the local live jazz band playing for a bar. This makes up the aesthetic of a casino, a place designed to capture your attention and hold it until you’ve spent and lost more money than you came in with. Growing up around casinos, I’ve always been fascinated with the techniques that casino designers will use to keep people in one place, thoughtlessly throwing money into machines which, more times than not, will only return to them disappointment, hope, and flashing, bright neon lights. I hope to capture the essence of a 70’s casino dreamscape; I aim for the viewer to feel melancholy in the emptiness of the casino installation for an era long gone, yet drawn to the enticing lights and colors.