This October an artist from NYC named Jessica Findley was brought to Santa Barbara to run this awesome project called the Aeolian Ride. I was asked to film the event, where 50 locals wore Findley’s costumes and paraded through downtown Santa Barbara and along the ocean side bikepath. I filmed it while “surfing” the back of my friend’s Xtracycle. It was awesome!! Anyway, Findley came to my studio the next day to get the captured footage, and at some point she realized she had a costume with her. So we did the first Aeolian Ride via unicycle through my neighborhood of Isla Vista!
I wish I was more on the ball: yesterday I saw a documentary about ancient Japanese war technology which featured a silk garment designed to stop arrows. The garment behaved very much like this Aeolian cape, billowing out when the horseman was at full gallop. The researchers copied the design and tested it. While billowed-out the thin silk cape actually did stop arrows, protecting the rider from archery attack!
I’ve been searching all evening to find a link for the silk armor but just can’t get it, did anyone else by chance see the documentary I saw? I think it might have been on the History Channel. I gotta wonder if this Aeolian garb was inspired by ancient body armor!
(p.s. it took me half a day to find this thread because I couldn’t get the right keyword for a decent search. I finally remembered the giggling, and searched for the word giggle, and viola!)
