Spring 1996. Manhattan. Lower East Side. I got introduced to Jump Start, a very cool organization that aims to build literacy. They were planning a street festival and needed art installations for kids. I was busy designing interactive art installations about media literacy, slated for a fall opening. Why not design and build one about literacy and hang out with kids on 2nd Street for the day? And get paid.
Ta- Da! Glow Tent
Kids came over to check out this funky looking dome tent covered with tin-foil like material. To enter the tent, every kid needs to first decorate a foam core alphabet letter. There's stickers, markers, glue, etc. Eager to enter the tent, most children slapped on a couple stickers and got in line.
A young volunteer stood at the tent entrance and helped kids to exit and enter the tent, about 10 kids each time. BUT HEY, it's pitch black in the tent! So I'd quickly pass out flashlights, enough for each kid and soon someone would smartly point out that their alphabet letters were glowing. Indeed, to their delight, they had decorated them with glow-in-the-dark stuff. But that was nothing. I then pointed out that the ceiling of the tent was covered with letters and that if they turned on their flashlights and used them like small pens, tracing the shape of the letters, it was as if they were writing with light. And the tent floor was like an entire writing surface so they could write a message to their friends waiting outside. Thanks very much, please exit. Fun Fun FUN. We all had a blast and the Glow Tent appeared at two more festivals after that. It also got me into toy design but that's a different story.
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