Tiny Gang playfully explores the idea that what connects us is stronger than what divides us. Tiny Gang an ongoing project with multiple outcomes. It is about the idea that all it takes is a very small, microscopic group of people to conspire, cooperate and collude. Together we could protect each other, and spread good ideas.
This concept is inspired by the work done in Connected Wearables Research.
Communication can often be hindered when a person is unable to express complex feelings. Through the years, many movements have used clothing en masse as a tool to help people communicate messages and beliefs without necessarily having to verbally speak about it. With connected wearable technology, the body becomes a new interface for non-verbal communication.
Tiny Gang is about the ability to communicate without words and stand with each other in solidarity. In one iteration, I am taking the tradition of gang jackets and patches, modernizing it with communication technology to expand it to an inclusive audience. Strangers would ask to wear the jackets, the once they put them on, we would somehow feel connected, partially because of the cohesion of the designs, but also because the wearables were on the same frequency, and you felt connected on the same wavelength.
I want to help others make their own, and when we go out to events, tune in to each other’s frequency (flash the same radio configuration) and be able to stand in solidarity, probably without having to speak.
Artistic circuit boards that are themselves wearable as accessories. 100 of these were commissioned as wearable art as well as teaching kits for soldering workshops at Burning Man in 2018 and 2019.
400 wearable clue finders commissioned for Ordcamp in 2020, made as part of a game designed with Sandor Weisz that all unconference audience members could participate in.
Wearable LED panel with animated eyes made for Wide Awakes Day, attached to capes worn by Wide Awakes Amanda Weil and Anne Pasternak
Wearable LED panel with animated eyes made for Wide Awakes Day, attached to capes worn by Wide Awakes Leo Villareal and Hank Willis Thomas.
Tiny Gang is an on-going open sourced connected wearables project. The parts and code can be found here -> tiny gang github
Two jackets in communication with each other, integrating lights, radios and micro computers into vintage jackets, worn by artist Olivia Barr and Matt Pinner.