in the footsteps of giants
Years ago, in the early days of our work on the Monolith, I had begun extensively researching ARGs, having only vaguely heard the term when I was younger. I've talked about it before, but there was a sort of chicken and the egg situation when we really started to get the project rolling. I knew "what" an ARG was, but never had the words. Growing up, I participated in I Love Bees and thought the concept was incredible, but didn't have the terminology for it. Obviously, the allure of making media that felt "real" was always there from the beginning of the project, but a few deep-dives around 2010 brought everything into a new perspective.
Especially when I realized that the godfather of all alternate reality games was set in our own New Jersey.
Joseph Matheny created what would become known as Ong's Hat in the late 80s and it flourished into the early days of the accessible Internet. He was an OG, working on projects that pioneered the commercial aspect of it, while also tuning into what made it wonderful and punk rock, too. He deemed the work an "interdisciplinary art experiment" and acknowledges that the more popular terms would become the ARG and transmedia we know today.
When we had first started our project, two works most clearly inspired me (and us) to produce the Monolith the way we did, heaving the "audience participation" onto the path that ultimately unfurled. Those were Ong's Hat and (obviously) House of Leaves. I would be remiss to omit my love for the Series of Unfortunate Events that consumed my attention when I was a kid, as well.
All of that is to say, it's an incredibly small world out there, and when I was partly assisting in the development of the 2025 LHFF, there was a focus on Internet storytelling, in addition to the staple of independent production. Every year, there was a guest (or two, or three) that we really wanted to feature, and with this year's focus on Internet storytelling, I thought it might be worth a shot to reach out to that godfather himself.
And he warmly responded.
Joseph hosted a presentation recounting his work on Ong's Hat and other projects over the years, much to the delight of the festival goers. There were numerous stories that led to those in the crowd stealing glances and stifling laughter over experiences universal to the creators present. Ad-libbed public theatre, as Joseph would call it, was rife in the early days of all of our creative endeavors. It was just surreal and touching to know that we all followed similar steps without knowing that it had existed and what results it could produce. What felt like just screwing around was building blueprints for future stories told.
He was thoughtful enough to produce a brilliant presentation slideshow that outlined his discussion. I would highly recommend reading through it and falling down all of the rabbit holes he drops along the way.
Perhaps, like us, you'll suddenly be inspired to join a zine's mail-ring or start one yourself, as the online world suddenly feels an urge to detach itself from the commercialized monster it has become and return to something more comfortable and uncivilized.
Something more punk rock, as Joseph might say.
We were all incredibly thankful for his time and the brilliant conversation he held with the festival's audience. It left quite the impact on everyone who was fortunate enough to attend, including myself. Definitely inspired me to be (even) more patient with well-intentioned members of our audience and any and everyone interested in these types of projects. I've been dropping comments and advice where requested for the last few years now and it's always wonderful to see our footsteps retraced by the next generation, as we have done with the giants before us. And to see where the next kids up have gone and will go, completely uncharted.
That fire has been reignited for many and it will never stop burning.