From Spikeworld. | Spikeworld - The blog of Spike Dennis | Artist, Maker, Curator and Colloaborator
I’ve been working on the creation of my very own Wild Man costume lately. This is a outfit that I intend to use a part of some forthcoming video performance works spawning from my unicorn studies.
The transformation of man to beast is a central aspect of traditional pagan rituals that are centuries old and which celebrate the seasonal cycle, fertility, life and death. Each year, throughout Europe, from Scotland to Bulgaria, from Finland to Italy, from Portugal to Greece via France, Switzerland and Germany, people literally put themselves into the skin of the ‘savage’, in masquerades that stretch back centuries. By becoming a bear, a goat, a stag or a wild boar, a man of straw, a devil or a monster with jaws of steel, these people celebrate the cycle of life and of the seasons.
In the past these folk costumes have been made with animal skins and/or plants and foliage. My own creation uses these old outfits as a starting point but I have added my own updated twists on these traditional methods.
One of these contemporary additions is the use of these LED pixel rings as eyes for the mask. When properly programmed they should display a continuous rainbow sweep.
They are currently powered through an Arduino Uno. This is a little clunky though so I’m hoping to get my hands on a Lilypad Arduino or an Adafruit Trinket to use in the final installation which should be a lot more discreet.
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