Dreams By Machine
Repurposed and Functional Art
Dreams By Machine
Re-purposed and Functional Art
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Opulent Mobility anime begins…
Posted on February 17th, 2012 No comments
Prosthetic Superheroine
The character is created, her super powers are in process.
I’ll come up with her name soon.
Let the story boarding commence!
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Updates on Opulent Mobility
Posted on February 14th, 2012 No comments
There is so much to report.
First off- my first solo show is in the planning stages! Opulent Mobility is tentatively scheduled for February 2013. The gallery is TBD, but we’ve got dibs on a lovely place in downtown LA.
Of course, the show will include Driven, The Edwardian Cyborg Wheelchair and Le Flaneur/ the SteamWalker.
Collaborative plans include a superheroine prosthetic animation with Theresa Gehri and a mixed organic media prosthetic device with the fabulous Alan deForest. Check out Alan’s fabulous atrocities at http://lostmuertosart.com/sculpture.html and Theresa’s Ocean Kiss at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZO7AFRRyac.
New works in process are the Jazz Age Roadster/Scooter and The Clockwork Brace.
I’ve just become a board member of the Haggus Society, a fabulous feminist arts collective for women artists over 40 with edge. I’ve never been a board member before, but Terri Lloyd, Monica Marsh and Nina Ehlig promise to help guide me. The Haggus Society gave me the push I needed to get this show on the road.
Check them out here! http://thehaggussociety.wordpress.com/
And yeah, Driven and Le Flaneur are due to be published in Steampunk- A Complete Guide to Victorian Techno-Fetishism by Vienna Von Schwartz. More information on that as it comes.
I am honored and profoundly lucky to have such great companions.
Here’s some of the imagery I’ve been researching- genuine Victorian prosthetics plus a modern update. May they inspire you too.
Victorian Prosthetic
Hammer Prosthetic
Immaculate Prosthetic Device
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Arrangements
Posted on January 13th, 2012 No commentsAnd now, the stories begin.
Settling themselves into the ship and readying themselves for the journey? Dull and full of petty squabbles. Suffice it to say that all of the travelers are tired of one another by the time they’ve picked their berths, and no one wants to share a space with the Scholar OR the Princess.
The Dark Lady has many offers to share her bunk. She remains uninterested in personal contact beyond her food requirements. Food, in fact, makes up the bulk of her luggage. Frozen vials and bladders of blood are carefully stored in the coolest parts of the ship. She keeps no small creatures to feed upon, preferring the fresh taste of fear in new victims.
After all, if you can’t hunt for it, what good is it? You may as well dine off bloodsicles.
The Pirate Queen understands the fascination her fellow travelers have for the Dark Lady. She shares it. Since she has no wish to lose her fellows for the Dark Lady’s snacking purposes, she finds her a cozy and separate bunk without portholes. There may well be losses along the journey, but she’d prefer that they happen later.
The Dark Lady faces down the Ringmaster
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My Theory of Deconstruction
Posted on January 7th, 2012 No commentsWhy deconstruction?
You have no idea, unless you’ve done this for a living. For years.
You can’t know how infuriating it is to have construction, materials and styles dictated to you by people with no idea of how things are actually made. Who will argue with you about the physical properties of fabric and zippers and notions- arguments you can only answer with “they just don’t work that way”. What it’s like to explain ad infinitum (and ad nauseum) how materials go together to make a garment.
Many designers insist that their creations appear magical. That the garments not appear as having been constructed so much as sprung full-form from the designer’s head like gods and goddesses.. This vantage point views actual visible seams as being evil. And understanding that actual people, working with actual machinery MADE these garments is somehow wrong.
Piffle.
These items are made. With human, bleeding, actual hands. And the stories behind their making can be horrifying to relate. Viewing the seams shows you the process and the artistry. Wearing seams on the outside is hardly more fragile than wearing them on the inside- after all, all the seams get washed and worn and used, no matter where they are.
Yes, I want you to see them.
So many of the items we use every day are used without that understanding- that actual people MAKE these things. That there is a process involved in the creation of everything. For some, meat only appears in cellophane wrapped packages and furniture just shows up at the doorstep. Knowing where things come from can only make us more aware.
Know how thy bonds are made. For in knowing the source, we are set free.
Making in Action
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Why the Masks?
Posted on January 5th, 2012 No commentsWhy the masks?
Shall I tell you the inside reasons or the outside ones?
My brother deals in security clearances. My sister works with birth, but her former artworks were all about masks. And I chose to make and design costumes-disguises- for a profession. What does that tell you?
And I’ve already talked about how costumes fascinated me. The power that comes with changing your outside appearance. What I’ve come to know is how the disguises we wear tell more about ourselves than we might want the outside world to know. The fact that we choose to wear our masks is enough.
We all wear masks. Some of them are more obvious, and some of them are more interesting.
But what do we learn from masks? Ask any actor, performer, lecturer or teacher. We can put on any one we like. They lift us up and free us to become ourselves. Even those parts of ourselves we’re not as proud of. Wearing a mask is liberating.
The masks I make are flexible and comfortable. So many of the ones I’ve worn (both physical and psychological) are not. In these, the leather forms itself to the face beneath. It accents the eyes and calls attention to the mouth, so that what you see and say become instantly more important. You become both mysterious and bold wearing them.
And in them, I am the superpower I’ve always wanted to be.
You can be that too.
Glamour to Deadly Mask
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And now it begins…
Posted on January 1st, 2012 No commentsThe Pirate Queen steadily gathered, cajoled and convinced her companions to join in her quest. Once they decided, it took very little time for them to gather their goods and bring them to her ship- although some brought much more than others. The Princess and the Scholar, in particular, had more items than any 10 people could carry, and were teased mercilessly by the less laden of the travelers. The group (plus an entourage of servants to carry their various goods) set off at dawn down the stream towards the shipyards, picking their way past the ruins of a once-mighty dam.
Can you imagine it?
The Pirate Queen gambols in front, leading the way with her sword and pack strapped on. She excitedly runs ahead, but checks back regularly on her “troops”. The Dark Lady examines every corner and nook, searching for bones. The Creatrix clinks her bags of tools and regularly stops to examine a rock formation, a piece of wood, the flow of the stream. Wrath pushes the Daredevil’s chair smoothly and answers the Daredevil’s endless questions in short, odd poems of phrases. The Scholar has too many trunks of books and scientific equipment- he sets himself down upon one and offers the Princess wine and a seat beside him.
What battles will they find, what wisdom and people do they seek? What will make their various quests one?
This is the beginning of their tale. It is also my tale. And if you consent to become a part of it, here’s to you for joining in their/our/my quest.
May our paths to adventure be wondrous strange.
Dreams- the Designs
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The Language of Selling Dreams
Posted on December 29th, 2011 No commentsAccording to all I’ve read, I’m a terrible salesperson.
I can get people interested in and excited about my work, but when it comes down to it? I know that you don’t really NEED what I have to offer.
Of course you don’t need it. You can live, breathe and eat without my masks, my clothing, my designs.
But your inner child WANTS them.
You want them because you always wanted to be a superhero or a supervillain. (I wanted to be a supervillain, since they had the very best stuff.) You wanted to be an adventurer, a stylish rake, a fairytale, an image out of a dream.
We are trained to want what other people have, to fit in, to become part of the tribe and to not stand out. But our dreams know better.
So, yes. You may not need a mask in order to survive. But you secretly want one. Period. I see you looking at them in the craft fair, the artisan bazaar, the nightclub gallery- and I see you looking away. Maybe you’re embarrassed to be interested in a leather mask in front of your kids, your friends or your co-workers. Maybe the pieces seem too showy and extravagant, and you just aren’t sure where you’d use them.
We all want to stand out. Our dreams aren’t about blending in with the crowd.
And I will not judge you. I only ask that you try on a little bit of your own inner magic. And just in case you actually like it?
Yes, they’re washable.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64824095@N02/sets/72157627118617302/
The Quest begins
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The Scholar
Posted on December 27th, 2011 No commentsThe Scholar was equally consumed by his love of knowledge and love of life. His appetites for both were enormous. He ate, drank, made love and studied with vigor and gusto. He could draw out information from the most unlikely of sources. The Pirate Queen admired his ferocious desires and his font of knowledge. He would make a most valuable companion on her quest- as long as the provisions held!
Designs for the Quest
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The Daredevil Dreams
Posted on December 26th, 2011 No commentsOf course he dreams of walking again.
In the absence of that? He dreams of wheeling in style. Of never being overlooked again. Of admiration instead of pity and avoidance. He may seek the impossible dream of re-binding and rebuilding his nerve tissues, but in the meantime he builds better conveyances.
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The Daredevil
Posted on December 26th, 2011 No commentsThe Daredevil in the chair might be wheelchair bound, but his bravery knew no boundaries. He flung fire, hung from ropes and iron crosses and performed aerial acts of derring-do. His welding was intricate, stunning and without any awareness of its dangers. In short, he was everything the Pirate Queen wanted to be. His courage inspired her, even as his fate terrified her, and she knew he could show her stories she couldn’t even imagine.
Daredevil coat
Daredevil in the chair
Gallery
Gallery
