Athena Kafantaris is a Burlington-based artist, performer and puppeteer currently working on massive, performer-operated dolls and puppets. She uses primarily recycled materials, including found and personal objects, to build creatures and environments. At her core, she is a collage artist and has great interest in integrating mediums like installation, sculpture, video and performance. Themes explored in her work are loss, the family structure, communication and metamorphosis. Watch her documentary style interview…
What you sought to accomplish during your time of residency? I chose to focus on four areas of development for my ongoing puppet project. My goals were to develop a rotating collar assembly for performance, experiment with extending puppet limbs, develop costume pieces that integrate various textures and to develop portable power and lighting systems for performance pieces. I developed a new puppet with onboard lighting and power, made various costume pieces, developed a first draft of the USB fan collar design, and experimented with a new articulated puppet hand design. I also started using a projector to play with the concept of projection as costume, an area I have been interested in exploring for a while. How you accomplished it?/An overview of what you learned. I was able to advance all these goals, primarily using the laser cutter, 3D printer and the electronics area. In addition, I took the machine shop and CNC classes to develop a better understanding of machining. I learned new software, including Blender, Inkscape, Illustrator and Fritzing, and these helped me greatly to understand modeling and layout as they relate to axis-based devices. I also spent a lot of time working on prototyping, especially for the more complicated goals like extending limbs and the rotating collar. How did the generator community participate in your experience? I got so many wonderful and challenging ideas from Generator members and used several concepts pitched at the members meeting where I initially presented. Devin had suggested playing with lighting acrylic and I heavily experimented with this concept. Robin suggested casting with silicone, which I have not tried yet, but am in the process of exploring. Pete encouraged me to explore inflatable parts for costume and puppets and I'm excited to do more research on using that concept. Max was incredibly helpful with all of my goals, taking the time to carefully consider my designs and suggest materials and techniques to achieve better results. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher! Lastly, the biggest resource from the community was Leif Hunneman, who encouraged me to apply for the residency, taught me to solder, design printed circuit boards and finalize a solution for power and lighting in my puppets. At every turn, members offered to help and support my project any way they could. People were so open to sharing their own process and to working out possible solutions. I'm so grateful that I had access to such generous minds.
