SantaCon 2006

On Saturday, December 16, agents again assembled in undercover Santa gear for the second annual Santa Barbara SantaCon. As one of the few cities in America with Santa in its name, the Santa Barbara contingent set out to prove that there's a special twisted quality to the local event that can't be equaled. Starting at Reds Espressobar and a skirmish with KCET-TV news, the Santas headed for disruptions at upscale clubspot, Couchez. Developing a taste for fish martinis, the fluffy red people then set out for the FishHouse where they disrupted holiday dinners with travesties of perfectly nice Christmas carols. Then the call of the Carousel proved irresistable. The redmen invaded the Chase Palm Park Carousel with a vengeance, mounting the wooden beasts without concern for their reputations. Tired of the spectacle, the frosted Santas headed for Cellar 205 for Christmas Tree Tossing, then on to State Street nightspots.

It Started at Reds

Sant-Elvis

Carousel-a-thon!

Elf Hell

Nasty Christmas Carols

Tree Sports

Santa wants you for Christmas

Frosty Frosted

Twisted Santas

Santas on State

UCSB Media Arts and Technology Showcase

On Friday, December 8, members of UCSB's Media Arts and Technology Graduate Program showed end-of-quarter projects to an invited audience at the Fishbon Pescadrome. Many of the presenters were familiar to Fishbon regulars. Angus, Alex and Heat Death performed with amazing upstage graphics, Graham and Wes improvised live with new algorithms and music, and Lance showed original music and graphics. After the event the evening turned social as DJs took over and kicked the energy up.

Showcase audience

Culture tour

On the fly

Graphic madness

Angus on drums

Adding in a sax

Followup beats

Tulle Wrestling.wmv

Cavemaking, Tulle Madness and Street Sculpture

On Wednesday, November 29th, secret Fishbon Event Lab agents used stretch fabric, old quilts, backdrops, moving blankets, carpet scraps and other assorted detritus to create a Magical Tent Cave Village in the Fishbon Pescadrome. The project was part of the process of developing the next event in the four seasons series of experiential multi-venue installations.
Later in the evening, two operatives took advantage of the abundant tulle fabric to invent Tulle Wresting, another great moment in live action gaming. Meanwhile on Santa Barbara's State Street, Michael and Dominique's Sculptures were installed and will be a holiday feature until January of 2007.

Tulle Madness

Michael and Dominique's
State Steet bear

Fishbon Retrospective

On Wednesday, November 22 Fishbon Event Lab operatives reviewed photos of past projects beginning with the creation of a 38 foot Fish Float for the 2002 Summer Solstice Celebration in Santa Barbara and ending with the Fishbon Apocalypse in October. Since more than 30 people (many of them new to Fishbon) worked on the piece and many more participated in the experiential performances, the retrospective provided an overview of the more than 25 projects that have been undertaken over the past several years.