Here are some recent photos of the project as it comes alive and swallows me whole. As I become the giant Effingee I am aware of the weight and the burden that he represents. The awkward chemical smell, the restricted vision and tentative movement remind me that no living thing could exist as the fear mongers describe. This beast had to come to us from a world much stranger than our own. Now that he is with us in our world he can only be propelled forward by us, by me.

Like all good effigy figures he comes to me in pieces as if already drawn and quartered. My job is to assemble him and pilot him.

The Beasts Legs prototypes. 

The feet are too tiny.

The head is frightening but the neck attachment needs work.

 The Chest cavity is too flat and un imposing.

 I'm building a cage/house for him.

 The legs took practice getting into and walking. They still need work.
I may have to scrap them and start all over.

 I figured out a rigging system to hoist it up high enough to get into. I still need another person to get into it.

 The scale is impressive even to me.

 I tore out the original wire frame armature and built a more sturdy sub-structure.

 The arms are gangly and hard to manage.

 Seeing where I'm going is surprisingly easy.

 Its so hard to get a sense of scale when I'm in it.

These kids saw it from inside their house and the whole family ran out to the porch to watch. They were right there when I took a fall. They came down to see it up close and to touch it. The little girl put her hand in the mouth! The fear abated really quickly.

In this micro appearance the emotional and artistic response was just as I suspected. People were freaked out and afraid, then couldn't look away, then had questions. I think it was still too ungainly and awkward to be terrifying, too obviously fake to be more than a symbol.

I haven't figured the response to children yet. I'm struggling with gown much to show and how much to tell. I don't want to relieve people of the responsibility to think. But I want them to start from my initial point of origin.

I'm thinking of using cardboard signs, charcoal in the finger tips to draw messages, video projection from the mouth, accomplices...