In the works of ancient Greek writers, as well as consequent authors and artists, Nyx is described as an ancient and mysterious protogenoi: a deity more ancient than the gods, and the mother of many titans. She is extremely powerful, so that even Zeus, the king of the gods, fears her to the point of changing his plans so that he does not anger her. Though she does not make a regular appearance in myths and adventures, she is foundational to the history of the bloodline of the Titans and gods and maintains a consistent description of her personality as well as her attire. She is described and depicted as being wrapped in a dark cloak or starry dress and possessing a pair of dark wings.

Éōs, on the other hand, is a younger deity, but still one generation older than the gods. As a Titan, she can be described as the niece of Nyx, although accounts from each writer disagree on the exact nature of their relationship. The primordial deity Hemera, daughter of Nyx, is sometimes combined together with Éōs as the same entity and the two are often used interchangeably, muddling the exact family lines. But both daytime goddesses display their comparative youth through their personality and attire. Éōs makes her way into a number of myths through her penchant for chasing (and kidnapping) young, handsome men. She occasionally accomplishes this with the use of a chariot and winged horses, but more often is simply described as flying with golden wings and dazzling her suiters with rays of sunlight. One of the common phrases used in the Odyssey is “rosy fingered Dawn”.

The willingness to combine deities in ancient Greek writing is a strong influence for the Éōs & Nyx wearable-technology project. Although the pieces can be worn separately without power and data, the cloak and pendants need to be connected to the dress in order to breathe life and light into them. The pieces therefore become an exploration of two sides of the same personality in nature and in femininity. To express this, the dress and cloak mirror and compliment each other through the use of the pendants on the front and back of the pieces, as well as the leather wings on the shoulders and belt. At the same time, the characteristics of the night cloak and the dawn dress contrast each other through the polarized colour palettes, as well as the length of the garments to create a sense of mystery and solemnity in the cloak and a sense of youth and flirtation in the dress. The pieces are constructed to hide their technology as elegantly as possible while maintaining the movement of the fabric.

The style of the garments and the fabrication is a nod to greek tradition, but more directly references ancient Roman appropriation in the leather designs, renaissance reimagining in the fabrics, and mid 20th century media that displays ancient garbs with an unmistakable twist towards their cultural sense of fashion and beauty at the time. The main influence for the shape and mis-en-scene of the pieces come from the “historical epic” films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, as well as their “sword-and-sandal” cousins in Italy. The dress and cloak are closer to vintage style than they are to classical and ancient fashion. The most direct film influences are, Demetrius and the Gladiators, 1954 and The Magnificent Gladiator, 1964.

A white under-dress with embedded LEDs that display any video or pattern with an organza outer dress

Features:

• Contains almost 900 individually addressable LEDs that have been mapped out on the dress to create a low-res screen to show off any animation or image. At this time we have a library of various weather patterns and a sunrise/sunset palette. Capable of updating the LEDs at  240 frames per second.
• Contains the motherboards in the belt as well as an ambient light sensor.
• Powered by the Intel Edison board and a Teensy board, allowing Wifi, GPS, Bluetooth, and “smart” simulations.
• Smart Simulation: instead of wrapping an animation or image this allows the dress to show off animations that never repeat and don’t have a wrapping “seam”.
• Alternative Raspberry Pi board for smoother and more reliable Wifi connection without smart animations or GPS.
• Two large lithium polymer batteries are stored in the under-dress pockets to power the dress and cloak for   a maximum running time of 3 hours.

A dark blue velvet cloak representing the night sky through fiber-optic cables with beaded tips

Features:

• No board or power source internally, allowing it to drape naturally, connecting to the dress through a magnetic shoulder piece with individual power and data magnet connectors.
• Contains 20 accurate constellations that can be individually addressed.
• 254 fiber optic strands run under the lining and through the velvet to melted beads on the outside of the cloak representing 210 stars.
• Constellations: Hydra, Argo, Cassiopeia, Canis Major and Minor, Perseus, Orion, Eridanus, Cetus, Andromeda, Pegasus, Cepheus, Cygnus, Pheonix, Serpent, Orphiuchus, Hercules, Lyra, Corona Borealis, and Draco.
• Silver accents on the cloak were created through traditional needle-tatting by hand

“Éōs & Nyx”
is the physical and intellectual property of
Rocket House Productions Inc.

Artistic and Creative Director: Zoë Klintberg
Technical Director: Kevin Loney
Fashion Lead: Erin Bauer
Leather Lead: Andy Guba

Additional Support

Model: Eloise Yaskiw
Weather Visualist: Snailpainter
Technical Assistance: Dayton Pidhirney
CNC Milling: Jim Akeson
Copper Tubing: Matt Laprairie
Ancient Greek Handwriting: Amy Klintberg
Technical Consultant: Mark Harris

Edison boards generously supplied by Intel