Interactive Art Installation
Electric Honey Experience
This was by far my most rewarding project post-college.
I was so incredibly overjoyed by the response from people, many of whom didn’t even know I was the artist behind them being there. I have a theory: everyone is creative, but many might not believe they can create—paint, draw, or otherwise. Yet when you put paint, a paintbrush, and some type of canvas in front of them, they will make something. And that, in itself, is art.
A community gathering in the desert for a weekend of music, connection, movement, singing, grooving, and expanding — is that not art?
Festival goers painting the portal
I painted this character, Quasimoto instructing people to paint the portal as they walked from stage to stage, he ended up getting taken home by a festival goer at the end.
I was so thrilled to see it evolve throughout the day!
Max and I wanted to find a way to contribute to Electric Honey
Both drawn to interactive art.
Max is an incredible artist and studied architecture. We joined forces with my art and fabrication skills—plus the guidance and support of my mentors—we were able to bring these portals to life. I had been calling them “the arches,” but it was the festival-goers who truly gave them their names, making them feel alive in a way only a community can.
Illuminated at night, with the eyeballs peeking through, it naturally called you to walk through or wiggle through it everytime.
Max took the lead on the painting design for these and it was an amazing success, I loved watching him create the eyeballs - a signature of @24hourarthut
At night it was illuminated with solar panel LED lights that added a glowing affect amongst the rocks.
The Build
I started the design on my computer in Rhino, along with a few sketches. I had to consider the environmental and festival conditions, and I knew the bases needed to be heavy—so naturally, I wanted to use metal. The materials I was offered really informed the design, and I’m so thankful it all worked out the way it did, down to the texture of the wood. I turned to my mentor Malcolm Majer, and he generously offered me some free 5" channel, which was perfect for spacing and weight on the bases. I collected a bunch of plate from my other mentor, Sam Acuff, and cut it into pieces using a massive hydraulic foot-brake table shear at Gunnar Metal Works in Baltimore. Then I brought all the chopped metal to Malcolm’s shop and began the metal fabrication.
I first welded the sheets together to add thickness to the plate, then drilled holes, and welded the plates to the ends of the steel channel. I sourced the rest of the metal I needed—threaded rod, pipe, and lots of hardware—from various distributors in Baltimore. Once fabrication in Baltimore was complete, I shipped over 200 lbs of metal to Boulder, to the ENVD CLC! My previous boss Sean graciously helped us once we landed in Boulder about a week before the festival.
From there, we needed to CNC cut the wood, test build, sand, prime, paint, and drive everything out to the desert. We got a little behind schedule but still managed to arrive a day early to set up. This project taught me so many lessons for future builds, and the on-site assembly went fairly smoothly. I’m especially thankful I got to do it with my best friend.
Special thanks to Matthew Nelson and the Honey Team for having us and letting us create a little magic within what is already such a beautiful, magical experience.
Moving Forward
I’m feeling incredibly inspired after this project. Knowing what I am capable of accomplishing, I feel ready for another challenge. One thing I know for certain is that I want to continue focusing on the interactive aspect of art. In this growing age of technology, in-person human connection will only become more crucial. I love engaging a community through an art piece—some of the best moments with art are celebrating, enjoying, and creating alongside new and old friends. While out in the desert, we were lucky enough to join forces with the decor team—not for any decor purpose, but simply because they were awesome people. It was a special way to experience the festival, rolling around with other creatives whose visions and execution made everything zanier, cooler, and groovier.
Above all, what I want to take from this experience is the drive to continue creating fun, inclusive art—art for the masses. Art that people can walk through, touch, contribute to, feel connected with, and most importantly, feel positively toward. There’s enough negativity in the world today—division, loneliness, despair. I think one of the best ways to escape that negativity is to create, to put expression into something—anything—as long as it brings joy at the end of the day.
Big thank you to my dear Maximus, and Lo for being such a great team through it all! Couldnt be more proud of us :)
Cheers!