Nick Charney Kaye

“Outright Mental” is my artist moniker—read the manifesto to understand that origin story. My practice is built in collaboration with other artists. Welcome to my studio.

Twenty-five years of making things in public runs through this place: theater at internet scale for David Blaine, a spot on national broadcast for the U.S. Department of Justice, a brand platform for Stetson, music videos shot with Juilliard dancers, an instrument I patented and open-sourced so composers could play it too—and now Fever Tilt, an original sport born on a real arcade table at Noisebridge and stress-tested by live play every week. The work is the point. Everything else is logistics.

Operator, not founder

Around here the title is operator. Founder is a claim about the past—who got there first—and the past is not for sale. Operator is a claim that has to keep being true: the work below keeps being made, shipped, and shown. The studio is the side effect; the record is the argument.

The record

• David Blaine, Drowned Alive — built and ran davidblaine.com; during the stunt the site drew over a million unique visitors a day.
• U.S. Department of Justice PSA — co-directed the “Know Where They Go” spot, aired nationally on NBC, CBS, Fox, and Oxygen.
• Stetson “Made of America” — designed the brand platform.
• Rubblebucket, two music videos — co-directed and animated across two albums; Down in the Yards sits at six-figure views on the band’s official channel.
• XJ music — the adaptive-music instrument: U.S. Patent 10,446,126, granted 2019 and active to 2038, open source at 94★.
• Fever Tilt — the current build, shipping in public: live Steam page, weekly playtests at Noisebridge, Early Access this November.

The whole book — a quarter century of dated, checkable work — runs back to 2001, nothing papered over.

Engage

To engage me directly—the Read, a Build, or the Retainer, at stated prices—go to nickcharneykaye.com/engage/. My résumé and the enterprise record live there too. What the studio itself sells—licenses, scenario packs, tournament nights, briefs—is at /services/.

Listen

Three conversations from 2024:

• Professor Game #327 — “Charney Kaye Brings the Music Into the Mix.”
• Design Your Legacy — “A Hacker’s Ethos and Legacy.”
• Sunday SoulDay S2E15 — “The Creative Pulse of Charney Kaye.”

Speaking. Topics, tape, and a booking path — nickcharneykaye.com/speaking.

Contact

For studio matters — the properties, the press kit, a purchase — email hi@outrightmental.com; one person reads every note, and answers within one business day. For anything sensitive, send it PGP-encrypted via the contact page. To engage me on a problem of your own, start at nickcharneykaye.com/engage/.