BCL Report – Nov 4, 2008

In preparation of the upcoming event, and in response to our sudden acquisition of 4 t-shirts, we spent Tuesday evening making stencils, shirts, testing Tetris 2, wheatpasting, and figuring out the logistics of a video game tournament.

testing the wheat paste and applicator

First thing on the list of to-do’s was to test my custom wheatpaste applicator. The results were mixed, though I attribute some of the difficulty to the surface onto which we were wheatpasting and the paper itself. However, I think I’ve already solved the other concerns (specifically, the angle at which one needs to hold the applicator to get it to work).

testing the wheat paste and applicator

The paper was insisting on coming off of the pole… Danielle and Josh secured it as Michelle wheatpasted.

cutting the mylar for the stencils for the shirts

Josh takes on the challenge of cutting out the Broken City Lab part of the stencil for the t-shirt. The main challenge being the “.org” part at the end.

cutting the mylar for the stencils for the shirts

Michelle works on tracing the front of the shirt. We spent some considerable time trying to decide how to make the “&” work.

josh and michelle diligently working on the the stencils for tshirts

Michelle and Josh working with utility knives, I liked all the letters that came off the mylar.

meanwhile, justin digs for the cables for the super nintendo

I dig through Michelle’s box of videogame stuff to find a working adapter and video cables.

once the snes is finally working, Danielle takes a stab at Tetris 2

It took a while to get it up and running, and now I can’t remember what the eventual solution was, but Danielle steps up to test Tetris 2.

having successfully cut the stencil, Michelle gets ready to move onto painting

Michelle with the front of the t-shirt stencil.

bottom layers of the t-shirts

We got these cans of spray-fabric paint—it came out kind of watery, but ended up working for the base coat.

drying the bottom layers of paint

Hairdryer to dry the undercoat.

laying the stencil on the shirt

This was the first shirt, we ended up realizing the text was a bit too high after the fact.

josh begins painting the shirt

Josh takes over painting with thicker fabric paint the front of the shirt.

Tetris 2 with 2 players

Tetris 2.

justin and michelle with the serious task of testing the average length of a game in Tetris 2

Michelle and I test the average game length for 2 player Tetris. Danielle and I had previously played multiple games over the course of 30 or 40 minutes, but continually forgot to time ourselves.

josh beginning on the second shirt

Josh laying down the stencil for shirt number two.

our first BCL shirt, not perfect

The completed first shirt…. well the completed front, the back will have to wait.

proof of Josh's mad cutting skills

The stencil in waiting.

Tonight is going to be awesome—bring your skills.