Worldcon 2015
A couple years ago, watching the livestream of the Hugo ceremony, I joked I should have a Hugo base design in mind, just in case I was ever asked to make one. See, the base is different every year, usually made by a local artist. Not long after making that joke, some pretty cool ideas for a base popped into my head. So I decided to look into the process. Turns out, for the last ~10 years, it has been chosen as part of an open competition that anyone can enter. That was intriguing. And also right about then, it was revealed that Spokane would be hosting Worldcon in 2015, a frankly ridiculous turn of events. I'm from Spokane. I'd be a local artist. I had to submit something. It was, and I mean this in the least ironic way possible, a moral imperative.
For all of last year I had a background task thinking about how to construct it, taking a welding class just to build some new skills I'd need. Last September, I started prototyping. I ended up making a total of 9 different versions from paper, plastic and metal. I invented an entirely new workflow using 3D modeling, waterjet cutting, steel origami and 3D printed magnetic jigs. The end result was even better than I had originally imagined, if I do say so myself. I submitted it, and all but held my breath for 2 weeks.
And... I won.
So, yeah, I'm making the Hugo bases this year. For a Worldcon in Spokane, where I attended my first con 22 years ago. I'm making the bases for the Hugo, an award that means more to me personally than all four of the EGOTs combined. A name that has graced the cover of pretty much all the most important books in my life, the ones that fundamentally changed the way I view the world and myself. One of my bases will join the Hugo retrospective exhibit, taken to every Worldcon from now until the end of science fiction. It's just unreal. I've known for a few days now, and I'm still wrapping my head around it.
For all of last year I had a background task thinking about how to construct it, taking a welding class just to build some new skills I'd need. Last September, I started prototyping. I ended up making a total of 9 different versions from paper, plastic and metal. I invented an entirely new workflow using 3D modeling, waterjet cutting, steel origami and 3D printed magnetic jigs. The end result was even better than I had originally imagined, if I do say so myself. I submitted it, and all but held my breath for 2 weeks.
And... I won.
So, yeah, I'm making the Hugo bases this year. For a Worldcon in Spokane, where I attended my first con 22 years ago. I'm making the bases for the Hugo, an award that means more to me personally than all four of the EGOTs combined. A name that has graced the cover of pretty much all the most important books in my life, the ones that fundamentally changed the way I view the world and myself. One of my bases will join the Hugo retrospective exhibit, taken to every Worldcon from now until the end of science fiction. It's just unreal. I've known for a few days now, and I'm still wrapping my head around it.