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What very well may be my favorite event of the year is ON! I'll be adding photos of the progress for the next sixteen days right up through the parade with the end result to create a running photo essay. I hope you all enjoy it and I can't wait to see what comes of this year.
It begins...as the Powerhouse (Solstice & artist HQ) begins to see the first signs of life a few weeks in advance.
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With only two weeks to go you'd think the HQ would be pretty hopping on a Friday night...but it was surprisingly slow:
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Final touches are put on a set of bee wings for the float Pollination Nation
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The Queen Bee tries her wings on for size...
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At the early hour of 10pm, the last artist packs up for the evening.
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So, eight days later and not a single post...just been too busy.
Here's some of the more recent pics from the past week:
Making little bee costumes:
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A girl has her stilts adjusted by her father before taking a few laps around the block:
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A typical powerhouse scene:
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Two kids play with paint
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Holes are drilled into PVC that will serve as a frame for 100 foot long dragon who's skin is composed of over 10,000 plastic bottles (the group says this is the average number of bottles a person will go through in a lifetime)
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A child interacts with a puppeteer in a baboon mask
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A paper mache mask comes together
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Power tools are fun:
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Pieces of a float are screwed together by Lee
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Does this fit right?
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Waiting for the bus:
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Little sewing:
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Gets kinda crazy around here in the last week:
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A volunteer works on attaching fabric to a "jellyfish" constructed from fabrics and umbrellas
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Tonites update:
Lee paints his float, alone, to try to beat the rain on the way:
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The bottle dragon group begins to assemble for an all nighter:
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Early in the evening one of the dragon body sections is taken out for a test run down the street:
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As the sun sets preparations begin for night work:
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The head of the dragon sits quietly, mouth open:
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Volunteers crush plastic bottles to be stapled to the skin:
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Late in the night completed sections of dragon, skins, bottles, and volunteers fill up the space:
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One of the project leads talks with the head artist on the project before the night draws to a close
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Selections from this evening...3 more days :-)
Checking the mask in the mirror
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Mixing paint
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Checking it out:
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Complete Carnival mask
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Something feels off...
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Making a few adjustments:
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Aannnnddd...perfect:
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From last night:
Simon works on his float late at night:
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The Kinky Crafters
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Cutting fabric
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Belly dancing practice
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other than it being the Solstace Parade (not sure what that is), it's amazing how "odd" these people look without understanding the context. Now I know what I look like on a daily basis =P
sweet shots man, keep em comin! giggity.
Good point Powder, I should’ve given some context. And thanks to it being the last 30 minutes of the work-week, this is a perfect time to write a good response.Quote:
other than it being the Solstace Parade (not sure what that is),
In short, it’s weird, it’s colorful, and it’s fun: I pass up two decent airshows in the area ever year to work on this instead, and I’ve never once regretted it.
The Solstice Parade is put on by the local Fremont Arts Council every year. (Fremont is a sort of quirky neighborhood in north Seattle known for its art & culture). It is notably different from most parades in three ways:
1. No recognizable logos (when I shoot the parade I have to cover the Canon on the body with duct tape).
2. No motorized vehicles (every float is powered by bike or old-fashioned pushing).
3. No advertisement or use of printed words during the parade.
While an unofficial rule, many of the floats are created from scratch using mostly or entirely out of recyclable/reusable materials. A good example above is the bottle dragon, which is made of used plastic bottles, bamboo, used pvc piping, cloth, old backpacks, and used rubber tire tubes. Another example is a group called the ice queens, which make some fantastically elaborate dresses made largely from coffee filters.
Many of the floats are part of ensembles that aim to create some sort of message, the vast majority of which lean definitively to the left. The bottle dragon is aiming to draw attention to recycling and the amount of stuff people consume each year…another is calling attention to money in politics…while another aims to recreate a bee society to call attention to the dying out of bees. Others, like the bubble man, just aim to have fun. They are joined typically by a few alternative marching bands and dance groups; this year they’ll be acrobatic stilt-walkers (which oughta be something else).
It is perhaps most famous (or infamous to some) for the body-painted bikers that kick off the parade. There are usually several hundred them and their paint ranges from a few dabs to highly complex schemes taking over eight hours to complete & dry.
It celebrates art, expression, and culture.
Links to 2011 and 2010
The night before the parade many of the participants drop by to make final adjustments to their floats before moving them from the powerhouse headquarters and the starting line abbout a mile away.
Before they get going, the leaders of the parade from the arts council give a big speech. I'd dreamed of this shot since last year, and finally was able to make it work this year:
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The bottle dragon was moved first, and was the first time it was completely assembled...
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A little dancing on the float helps set the mood:
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Keeping the neighbors up at night
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The dragon consumes a victim
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Jake operates the jaws while eating me :-)
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And then the parade itself...finally!
The parade begins with a bunch of body-painted bikers...several hundred of them. This year's turnout was very high. They are not officially associated with the parade, and it's fair to say they are a huge crowd draw.
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And then it begins:
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