In April of this year Paul designed an electrified firefly costume for the {Re}HAPPENING. This event pays tribute to the groundbreaking innovations of the Black Mountain College community of artists (people like Buckminster Fuller, Merce Cunningham and John Cage) and creates space for artists and patrons to experience adventurous art and creativity in the present day.
The part of the event we participated in was called “Chance Operations” and we got the opportunity to work with a group of people we had never met before: dancers, musicians, a robot builder. We all resonated with the image and idea of the firefly.
Here’s an excerpt from a video that just came out about the event that features a little snippet of the costume.
The piece is wired with an awesome product by Cool Neon called Total Control Lighting. This is made of LEDs with an arduino controller. Ping pong balls diffuse the light.
We are planning a small swarm of firefly costumes for next summer with the fabulous stiltwalking Whee Ahh Faerie Kin!