Makers Faire Blog
Last weekend, I
visited the Vancouver Mini Makers Faire Picnic. It was an exciting community
and collective of often-DIY craft makers brought together to share/exhibit
their wares with the world and to sell some of their pieces. The brochure/program
guide announces: “Build. Hack. Sew. Play. Learn. Farm. Invent. Create. Make.”
It incorporated all of these elements and more! The Faire was a great way to
participate even as a spectator because, like the final project, it gave form
and application to all the readings and texts we have studied and responded to
over the course of the term. In addition, it was fascinating and fun mingling
with the vibrant maker’s community. The best attribute, for me, of the Faire
was that it animated and brought to life all the things we have been studying
together in the class.
I think one of
my favorite features of the Faire was the robot/mechanical snake. One of the
reasons I was so drawn to the gigantic, slithering robot snake was because it
was so visually arresting. Moreover, as a student of design, I could appreciate
the fact that it was obviously a well designed, aesthetically interesting, and
an effective, well-oiled machine. I also really liked that the mechanical/robot
snake encouraged a type of participation and an involvement with the audience;
as it slithered around, you had to step back or circumvent it accordingly.
As I wandered around the
Faire, many of the different readings seemed to pop up in my mind. For example, in Hiten Samtani’s,
“Meet the Makers,” it says that, “A maker space, she says, serves as an active
breeding ground for such skills, a place where swarms
of
inquisitive young people can come together and absorb new learning paradigms.
(Samstani 6). The Faire was an example of this exact contention. Another
refreshing aspect of the Faire was that, rather than the normal reality where
large corporations focus their energies monopolizing the world, at every
juncture along the way in the Faire, you were faced with innovations by
individuals, not corporations or behemoth companies:
“Rather than top-down innovation by
some of the biggest companies in the world, we're seeing bottom-up innovation
by countless individuals, including amateurs, entrepreneurs, and professionals.”
(Anderson 11) This excerpt taken from Chris Anderson’s “The New Industrial
Revolution” was especially pertinent with regards to the Faire.
Overall,
I thought it was a great way to see, participate, and be a part of the
readings, texts, ideas etc. from the class. I encourage anyone from the class
to go and check it out for yourself (if you missed this year’s Faire, maybe you
can make it next year or to another event with the same theme and approach).
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I didn't get a good shot of the robot/mechanical snake, but here is one I found online:
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