In our final Designer Spotlight, staff writer Sarah Dabby chats with maker-artist Alex Glowaski to discuss brainwave-reactive headsets, internet-enabled pieces, and her huge dreams for Hot Couture and beyond. She will be showing two pieces at The Crucible’s Hot Couture: A Fusion of Fashion and Fire on January 11-12, 2013.

Alex Glowaski is a tech support tank and brainwave enthusiast. Before moving to San Francisco, she lived in Ann Arbor, where she received a Spanish degree and directed the city’s “All Hands Active” hacker space.  Now immersed in San Francisco, she works at Sauce Labs and has co-founded a hardware development group called ProtoTank.

Follow Alex on Twitter @glowascii.

Photo courtesy of Coyote Counter Collective.

Coyote Counter Collective is a cooperative art and design space in North Oakland formed by group of artists banded together to re-imagine structures on their own terms. The corner storefront is equal parts gallery, boutique, studio workspace, garment re-construction factory, style hub, and general one- stop waypoint for cultural re-fitting.

For Hot Couture 2013, Coyote developed a conceptual collection of smart garments with an eye towards integrating some of the newest technologies out there with some of the oldest.

Electroluminescence, LEDs, laser-cut shapes, 3D printed forms and conductive fabrics and threads are layered with stained glass, applique, dye, felt, quilting and silkscreen to lend illuminated and richly textured surfaces to these glowing, flickering creatures. The garments transfer information via simple touch or wireless radio signals, affecting each other in various ways.

Throughout the collection is evidence of an ongoing commitment to sustainability.  The garments are primarely either reconstruced or made from reclaimed materials, and the 3D printed parts use renewable corn plastic.  The underlying belief of Coyote Counter Collective is that we must also develop egalitarian models of working if we wish to be truly sustainable. The process is indeed part of the product, and Coyote believes that we must look to artists to show the way forward for society.

Visit Coyote Counter Collective on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @CoyoteCounter.

Coyote Counter Collective is:

• Medium Reality – design
• Lara Grant – design, electronics
• Rachel McConnell – design, electronics
• Rachel Lyra Hospodar – electronics, facilitation
• Sylvia Wood – stained glass
• Type A Machines – 3D printing

Coyote Counter Collective wishes to thank to Chris K Palmer (Shadowfolds), Miloh Alexander, Chartreuse Circle, Pants Interface, Noisebridge and Merchants of Reality.

Photos courtesy of SENSOREE.

To SENSOREE Design Lab, 2013 is the year of communication. At Hot Couture, SENSOREE will premier five new interactive designs that speak to the self, each other and the spacial environment. Under the theme “Home-aid” they craft future design couture from the DIY to bring awareness, interaction and health of the self.

Team lead and SENSOREE founder Kristin Neidlinger crafts phenomenal technology to enhance and expand physical embodiment. She is interested in how technology increases body awareness and to what extents. A classically trained ballerina, she holds an MFA in Interactive Design from CCA and has worked as a Dance Medicine Specialist and kinetic costume designer. She has performed and exhibited works from Berlin to Belgium to Brazil and for the next two years her work is touring with Futurotextiles 3.

Greg Ames is SENSOREE’s Electrical Sound Wizard. From his early pre-teen years, Greg has been involved with electronics and music. After college, he was involved in professional audio, building recording studios, traveling as an audio engineer and working for Disney. He later transitioned to a career in the computer industry, being fortunate enough to get involved with Apple Computer very early on, working there on and off for more than 17 years. He has expertise in internet and small embedded solutions including Atmel/Arduino and looks forward to providing technology solutions for art and education.

Anthony “Asterisk” Ambuehl handles wiring, programming and metal fabrication. As an active member with Sensoree, Flux Foundation and Flaming Lotus Girls, he does whatever necessary to make art happen.

David Dawson is a fashion sculptor and once upon a time, co-owner and creative collaborative leader of Asphalt Designs and partner in Phobos and Deimos. Currently he is awakening and stimulating the sensibilities of teenagers as a high-school art instructor.

Autumn Adamme established Dark Garden in 1989. Her vision and leadership have brought her company to the forefront of the world’s corset market. Using the finest fabrics, Autumn and her team of  talented craftspeople skillfully build each corset and couture garment from start to finish. Her gowns and corsets have been worn on Hollywood’s red carpets by Christina Aguilera, Pamela Anderson, Kelly Osbourne and Dita Von Teese. Autumn has participated in two great Crucible events – Firebird Fire Ballet and Machine, last year’s fire opera.

Stefanie Ku (a.k.a. Cosmic Cupcake, Kukie Matter, and silverslik), is a San Francisco based intermedia artist and divides her time between helping people achieve wellness through sound and vibrational healing, playing keyboard and synth in electronic rock band Beautiful Machines, and transmuting her visions from the dimensionless realm of pure thought into the more accessible language of light and sound.

Chris Jeffries (Tinaja Labs) is part of an ongoing DIY movement which builds upon the open software and now open hardware standards. This movement makes the use of technology more

As The Crucible’s Hot Couture Fashion Show on January 11 & 12, 2013 approaches, staff writer Sarah Dabby chats with faculty member, leather artist, and Hot Couture designer Sam Waller to learn more about his pieces, his team and The Crucible’s integral role in his success.

Sam, a self-taught leather artist, joined The Crucible faculty in September 2011. His work, which draws on fantasy and pre-Renaissance themes, has been featured throughout shows and boutiques in Oakland and Indianapolis. His Designer and Artist team includes Courtney Pheils and Celeste Flores.