Busy hands | Disquiet mind

EMFcamp was fast approaching. I didn't have a project, or time to make one. (Or repair one of the old ones.) So I thought to myself, what can I throw together with minimal time investment? Which is how I came to make my own set of NeoPixel Cyber hair extensions/falls/decorations.

( Circuit )

( Form )

( Code )

NeoPixel Cyber hair extensions models by clothes hanger
Photo by chebe

EMF this time around was so hot, that I feel like I did nothing except be a puddle. But, looking through the photos and live-micro-blogs, that is not even remotely true.

( Thursday )

( Friday )

( Village )

( Friday, again )

( Saturday )

( Sunday )

---

Monday I finished packing, and towed my trailer tent away to a nice cold, dark, hotel. For baths and naps. And the long journey home.

I am sorry to say I missed the burning of the effigy. Was I at dinner? Or burrowing in my tent? Anyone have a good video?

You know how I take every opportunity to declare that I am not an artist? (I've been through the Irish educational system, my deficiencies were made crystal clear to me.) Well, that's very much a singular I. Put me in a field with 3,000 others at EMFcamp, and we become a group art project. A living, interactive, art piece. An alternate reality. At once cyberpunk futurism, all the while revealing in countless old and obsolete technologies. Technologists, in the middle of a field contending with the realities of Nature. Revealing in near infinite possibilities. Struggling with hard limitations. Sharing knowledge, teaching skills, learning crafts. Puzzling out a quandary. Figuring stuff out.

Some people have staring roles. Others make up their parts as we go along. At every level of the whirlwind fractal. From those who roleplay, as villagers, mayors, unnecessary bureaucrats. Spies, and rebels. Or revel in the chance to be fully, and loudly, their true selves. The fantastical array in between manifesting in beautiful costumes; whether that's clothing adorned with LEDs, an electroluminescent wire wireframe of a bird, a mirrored catsuit wielding a light staff, masks of skulls and antlers, Daleks playing tag with children, or a parade of fursuits.

And all that is before we get to the actual art installations and projects. Or theme. Which sets the stage; draping the resistant Nature in lasers, smoke, and flame throwers. And hands you a skeleton of a script to inspire. Curious minds reaching to understand how the cool thing was done. Playing the games. Interacting. A funhouse of possibilities, for people who like to peak behind the curtain. And make their own version.

My fellow villagers, as Null Sector closed down on the last night, next to the lasers over the lake, expressed a wish that EMF would become a university. One we would all fail to actually graduate, just repeating courses, over and over again. So we'd never have to leave.

We may not be aware that we're all parts of this larger unintended art project. But each and every one of us feels the power in the possibilities of that temporary alternate reality. So it hurts to leave when it's over. Even as our bodies complain from the inescapable, and often harsh, physical reality, and crave the return to normality. Our spirits yearn for that rare elixir that was conjured in the field. From the hard work and sweat of hundreds of organisers, over the last fourteen years. And the eager participation of thousands of attendees each event. It is unique, and precious.

Tell me, where were you when they burned the effigy?

Lasers over the lake
Photo by chebe

So I made another half-circle skirt, identical to v.1 and v.2, but in a 100% polyester micro-velvet. It's a soft, plush, non-stretch, deep black (when not over-exposed) velvet. I had high hopes for this fabric. The first issue is that it comes in a narrow width, so I could only fit the pattern pieces in one orientation, and actually had to go buy a second longer length to fit them. Also, the twice turned hem turned out thicker than ideal. But mostly this fabric is a static electricity/cling nightmare. And the (half) fullness of this skirt means the fabric is constantly rubbing against itself. I have bought a slip, and ordered a petticoat, to see if they can make this more wearable. But needless to say I have scrapped the other projects I had in mind for this fabric.

Finished, front
Photo by chebe

Time for something practical. Let's make another Seamwork's Lex jumper!

( Details )

Finished, front
Photo by chebe