I just had a great time at Maker Faire Austin. Engineers, artists, craftmakers, recyclers, computer geeks, showmen, hippies, kids. It's the ultimate DIY mishmash. I didn't get there til the final two hours. An easy 15 minutes from my house, the city left behind in like 10 minutes. After that, felt like rural Texas. The faire was held at the Exposition Grounds. Like so much in Austin, easy. No walking for miles once I parked, instead easy access, easy. The main entrance housed much of the computer, electronic and robot gear. Passing into the outside again was food, the art car display with one in the making by Harrod Blank - Man I love his cars!, the Maker Store, some live music, and the crafts "pavilion". Dirt on the floor, corrals to my right I guess. Of course, this is Texas. And this is where they'd house the cattle. Must be. A little bit further and there's the bike art, the fanciful bike inventions, the pedal moving ferris wheel, the modern day joust on bikes. More stages with live music. Had fun running into the women from Hawgfly with their gruesome special effects and gore cannon.
I walked around, not knowing a soul, trying to focus, for the most part marveling. I'd squint then crack up. Hilarious concepts. The electronic furby sound performance. The marionette operated via pulleys and gears from a laptop. Delicate jewelry from computer parts, solar chips where the diamonds would have been. Great looking girls in true hoop skirts. The Chakra Tron.
I'm not that guy. That DIY guy. But I'm thrilled he/she exists. I get this Maker movement as an antidote to our consumer culture. As they say, "Build, Craft, hack, play, Make."
No comments:
Post a Comment