What? Productions

05/08/2022

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of our co-founders, . Kyle is an incredibly talented and creative human. He’s the brain behind stage designs and so many other amazing design projects you see on this page. We’re so lucky to have him on our team. 🖤

21/07/2022

Push the button for a surprise👀✨

We recently built a DJ alter with ultralight beam pillars at ’s new marketplace.

is an immersive retail concept and experience driven pop-up happening at 501 West Broad St. in Franklinton every weekend from June 2022 through May of 2023.

02/06/2022

Big Poppies are ready for their closeup📸

We were recently hired to build the centerpiece for the Hat Day x Best of Spring 2022 fashion show at . This design featured 12 larger-than-life poppies in various stages of opening, hanging upside down as if they are growing from the ceiling. White and indigo flowers are attached to S-shaped stems, giving them the appearance of movement while hanging still from the ceiling.

01/06/2022

Hat Day centerpiece 🌺

was hired to build the centerpiece for the Hat Day x Best of Spring 2022 fashion show. Featuring 12 larger-than-life poppies in various stages of opening, designed to be hung upside down, as if they are growing from the ceiling. White and indigo flowers are attached to S-shaped stems, giving them the appearance of movement while hanging still from the ceiling.

05/04/2022

With the aim to reuse the two LED elements from the 2018 stage design, we went big and created a 24’x20’ projection mapped stage sculpture.
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This budget-minded consists of dozens of foam and wood pieces that break down with storage and travel in mind.
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The stage transformed from day to night as the lighting and projection mapping brought it to life.
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📍: 2019
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05/04/2022

Our team was hired to design and build a permanent cyberpunk themed atmosphere for Game Aren’s bar at the Ohio State University location.
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The space features a central interactive display that uses lidar sensors to create a “touch reactive” surface for gaming and interacting with the surrounding LEDs. We created and installed two diffused LED sculptures. We covered the walls in our own cyberpunk inspired wall art.
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This project was completed on budget, on time, and captured the aesthetic the client had envisioned for the space.
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05/04/2022

We were hired to create a custom diffused LED sign for the Dreamboy Audio office. This simple and elegant LED sign has 10 custom coded animation modes for different moods.
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05/04/2022

Soundography is a parametric inspired free form sculpture consisting of three bench forms, four vertical wall forms and two forms suspended from the ceiling. Each form consists of stacked layers of ¾” Baltic Birch Ply and RGB LED Neon strips. These forms were created by hand sketching, exploring organic forms in Cinema 4D, then recreating in Rhino 7. Numerous models were built at scale to understand and explore fabrication and assembly techniques. The hundreds of pieces used to create these forms were cut from 4’ x 8’ sheets using a SCM Pratic S15BR+.
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05/04/2022

What? Productions is a Columbus-based creative group specializing in art heavy, sensory experiences.
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We work hand-in-hand with local groups to build our productions. Our network spans throughout the United States and is most prominent in the Midwest, Northeast, Southern, and Southwestern regions.
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We believe experiential events define culture, accelerate a sense of belonging, and are a vital element to a community’s identity. With our expertise and passion for live events, we seek to bolster the entertainment market and build lasting creative infrastructure that nurtures the intersection of art and technology
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Our team coordinated the design, production and installation of the experiential build-out and it has lead to multiple other projects for bars and restaurants such as and .iv.
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05/04/2022

Dream Sequence is a 40 foot wall sculpture consisting of up to 8 layers of hand painted 1 inch EPVC pieces and 80 meters of LEDs. Over 250 individual pieces and 22 colors come together like a puzzle to wrap around the three walls behind the bar. Custom programmed LED animations bring this sculpture to life as the colors shift and glow throughout the layered waveform.
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25/03/2022

✨Now hiring✨

We're hiring for design projects across Columbus, Ohio and the Midwest, ranging in length and budget from multi-month to day-long opportunities. We are building a call list and currently looking for support April 2022 - July 2022.

Apply at what-productions.com/apply

11/03/2021

SOLD OUT // 📢 WE'RE BACK WITH Smoakland 📢

Immerse yourself in bass on 3/27 when takes over What? Space with support from BRWN BEAR + Bent Spectrum + Sonorous + Wubiverse

📍 1199 W. Broad St.
🔊 PK Sound Dream Boy Audio
🎫 https://buff.ly/30wkwxN
😷 required

29/12/2020

December 30, 31 and January 1

Here are your plans!

This is some of the best up and coming visual and audio production out there! Tune in for an hour or for the full 3 days.

www.twitch.tv/couchfam

18/12/2020

Throwback Thursday to one of the first installations we made back in 2018. This was simple, fun and super interactive.

UV reactive vinyl (glow in the da) with black lights we got on Amazon for like $7.

Sometimes it isn’t about having a big budget, it’s about having fun.

#614

05/12/2020

WHAT?

Work in progress recap shot from this summer. We designed, built and programmed this place. Our team is hyper focused on delivering truly immersive visual and audio experiences. We believe that every place deserves to be designed with attention paid to even the smallest detail. We love making things.

🎶: “byte evaders”

21/11/2020

What a wonderful world it is where an idea can pop into someone’s head and they share that idea with a team of people down to spend over 1000 hours creating and this is the result!

Bar sculpture built by the team at and designed by

19/11/2020

Here is a great write up on some of the visual artists and live animators making waves in the music industry. If you’ve been to one of our events, you already know how important these artists are. Give them a follow and stay up to date with their efforts.

We really appreciate the spotlight that ConciousElectronic.com has given these artists!

Shoutout to everyone who contributes to the show. There’s so many talented people out there. We can’t wait to work with these fine folks!

We've narrowed down our Top Ten Visual Artists and Live Animators. This shortlist covers EDM's best of the best! Check them out.

10/11/2020

Sunday November 8, 2020
Columbus, Ohio

🎶:Keota - “unreleased”
VJ/LD:
Sound:
Lasers: .light

09/11/2020

WHAT? A NIGHT!

Shoutout to

Shoutout to .light on lasers, with the and with the projection and lights.

Shoutout staff for keeping everyone fed and hydrated and the security team for keeping everyone safe.

Shoutout to our drivers and cleaning crews and runners and graphic designers and photographers and videographers and stage hands.

Shoutout to the local promo team and everyone who came and supported the event by buying tickets, sharing posts and commenting on our pages.

This event and events like this help to employee over 40 people in just one night. Shows like this are people’s entire lives. Please continue to support the arts and think about how many people events impact and how many careers and life savings and dreams are built on events.

There is a place in this world for live art and music.

We love and appreciate you all more than we can ever say.

Sincerely, thank you.

28/10/2020

Here’s an awesome shot of the project What? Productions completed for Midway on High.

“Dream Sequence” 3D Mural- spray paint on 1” EPVC
-Design by Kyle Dineen

“Dream Sequence” is a 40 foot wall sculpture consisting of up to 8 layers of hand painted 1 inch EPVC pieces and 80 meters of LED’s. Over 250 individual pieces and 22 colors come together like a puzzle to wrap around the three walls behind the bar. Custom programmed LED animations bring this sculpture to life as the colors shift and glow throughout the layered waveform.

Hours: 1500+

Materials:

25 sheets of 1” EPVC (8’x4’)
6 sheets of 3/4” Poplar (5’x10’)
80 meters of programmable LED strips
150+ cans of spray paint (22 colors)
50+ rolls of tape
5 gallons of water based poly
20 tubes of construction adhesive
1200+ screws

06/10/2020

Check out what we have been up to!

What? Productions spent the last 5 months designing and building the brand new Midway on High.

Take a virtual tour :)

09/06/2020

21/05/2020

Thanks to 614 and Zak Kolesar for the write up! We're happy to have found a way to put our team's skill sets to good use and be able to give back to the community.

Please consider donating to the GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/face-shields-for-frontline-professionals

14/05/2020

Join us in supporting frontline professionals in our community!

WHAT: Our team of artists questioned how we could use our new-found time, existing tools and skills to help the Columbus community. Frontline professionals continue to express a need for protective gear. We’re happy to step in!

HOW: We aim to raise enough funds to produce 1,200 face shields for medical professionals outside of major hospital networks like nursing homes, private practices, or other groups lacking sufficient PPE to perform their essential tasks. 1 $6 donation = 1 Face Shield.

OUR ASK: If you are able to help, please consider making a donation via https://bit.ly/DonateforFaceShields and/or sharing this with your social media network.

Thank you for supporting our mission, and joining us in supporting the Columbus community! 🙏🏼♥️

What? Productions questioned how our team of artists could use its maker skillset … Ryan McKee needs your support for Face Shields for Frontline Professionals

25/03/2020

What? Productions is proud to present - What? Collective - a label for artists, by artists. We look to question how we can create and inspire through collaboration, and showcase talent through the sounds of the underground. In these uncertain times, it is becoming more and more difficult to share our artistry with others. What? Collective is our way of ensuring that our scene continues to thrive.

👍 Like Facebook.com/whatisacollective to join the community!

Our first release features the up-and-coming Columbus artist Pipe Leak! Visit our SoundCloud to get lost in the experimental sounds on his track Dunes.👇

Our first What? Collective debut featuring Ohio local https://soundcloud.com/pipeleakaudio Release Date: 3/27/2020 Download for free on The Artist

23/03/2020

Andy Meyer, one of What? Productions Art Directors, has been making waves in the Columbus art scene. Most recently with his thought-provoking installation at the Columbus Museum of Art's 2020 Wonderball event in January.

Get to know Andy in real life: whatmaaf.com/andy-in-real-life

🖊: Mason Wagner
📸: Ryan Ransom

Andy Meyer is making waves in the Columbus art scene with a focus on vaporwave expression. Hear about his inspration, background, and latest installation.

20/03/2020

Musical artists! 🎶 Share a link to your Bandcamp in the comments.

Shout out to Bandcamp for waiving their revenue share on sales today (Friday, March 20th, from midnight to midnight Pacific Time), and rallying the Bandcamp community to put much needed money directly into artists’ pockets. ♥️

Support artists directly today on Bandcamp.

19/03/2020

Individual artists and art organizations - check out the surveys below. As GCAC mentions, your responses are critical to the resources made available to the arts community in Columbus and Ohio in the coming months.

Thank you to the Greater Columbus Arts Council for sharing this information and continuing to advocate on behalf of artists in this challenging time!

The What? team is committed to sharing updates and information like this as it is available. Hang in there! We're all in this together. ♥️

11/03/2020

The What? family was honored to receive the outrageous ozzie – Spoonbill – for a particularly intimate and soul-warming evening. Flow jams, constant dancing and happy bass filled the venue.

Get the full recap: whatmaaf.com/spoonbill-recap/

The What? family was honored to receive the outrageous ozzie – Spoonbill – for a particularly intimate and soul-warming evening on a Thursday night at TRISM. Being a younger member of the community, I…

02/03/2020

28/02/2020

🌀JUST ANNOUNCED🌀

K.L.O + Navigatorz come to Columbus, Ohio on Friday, May 1! Early bird tickets on sale now.

🎟️: http://bit.ly/KLONavigatorzTickets
RSVP: facebook.com/events/192453855346304

21/02/2020

You’ve seen the "dancing live painter" at a What? event. Vibing OUT in the corner, paint brush in hand, hip-swingin’, stank-facin’, gettin’ all weird and into it. Our team asked him the things you ask yourself about him.

Read Vincent Michael Krivda, Jr.'s story: whatmaaf.com/dancing-live-painter/

🖊️: Andi Wesley
📸: Ryan Ransom

19/02/2020

What? Productions is proud to present 5AM Trio ft. ZONE Drums & Tygris + Mindex on Friday, April 24 at The Summit Music Hall. Bringing out Funktion-One (Official) for this one!🔊

🎟️: http://bit.ly/5amTrioTickets
RSVP: facebook.com/events/196970874716794/

18/02/2020

DJs, bands, solo artists - have you been to a Music Business Monday event? Next Monday, the Columbus Music Commission hosts the A2IM artist kickoff event featuring representatives from Spotify Facebook and Bandcamp.

Read more about the monthly events in this great article by Zak Kolesar 👇

Are you a Columbus musician who is having a difficult time getting the reach of your social media presence to a wider audience? Perhaps you’re in the business of running your own independent label or starting your own local festival and need some

18/02/2020

Saturday's show earned the title great dane and the night of b2b love. If you missed it (or just want to relive it), click below to get the full recap!

CC: Samsin Yacht club. Pinwheel CandyCaineB

🖊: Andi Wesley
📸: Rookieransom

Read a recap of Great Dane, Samsin, Yacht club. and The Night of B2B Love at another What? Produtions event in Columbus, Ohio.

18/02/2020

📸 Rookieransom // Chris McConnel

17/02/2020

Mercury is back in retrograde. Who needs crystals when you have concerts?

✨ 2/27 Spoonbill
✨ 3/14 Toadface + Jon Casey
✨ 4/10 Goopsteppa + ATYYA + Benji Robot

Get tickets: bit.ly/WhatShows