Festival Crowd Art: How to Make a Rage Stick
Not everyone is in favor of rage sticks at music festivals.
Rage sticks, which is another name for crowd art, are creative, unique artwork attached to a high pole that is carried through the crowd. All of them are crazy, featuring random pop characters or household items. My friend Michael had one with a big plastic mule on it.
They are useful landmarks when you are trying to find your friends in the crowd of a headlining performance:
“We’re to the left and up a little bit from the Most Interesting Man in the World,” one text might read, or “You can find us almost directly in front of the silver, glittery blender.”
Understandably, videotapers hate them. Sometimes, they get in the way of you seeing the stage, which is also very unfortunate. If you carry one, you must be responsible not to hit anyone or block anyone thoughtlessly.
In general, though, they add to the craziness of a concert in a positive way. Here’s a step-by-step guide for making one:
1. Go Touch a Six-Foot Pole
You need to find a good pole. It’s weird, really — sometimes the pole just comes to you. To source a good pole, try a hardware store or a landscaping shop. I found a bamboo pole, and it was perfect.
You don’t want it to be too heavy, because you’ll be carrying it around all night and likely all weekend if it’s awesome enough. You don’t want your pole to be too weak, either. It would be a bummer if it broke. Not too tall, not too short, either, Goldilocks.
2. Create a Theme
There’s nothing sadder than a half-baked idea of a rage stick, so if you’re going to create crowd art then commit! The first step in the design process is creating a theme. What are you trying to express with your stick? If you’re going to be totallyDadaabout it, you may wish to collaborate with a few friends so that you have a running joke within your non sequitur statement. For example, if you want to carry a rage stick around with a super-large Bill Murphy face, see if one of your friends wants to carry Mike Tyson or Farrah Fawcett.
I made a rage stick one time for a friend’s wedding. The theme of the wedding was “Over the Rainbow.” I sat down and planned it out. I had a massive shopping list, but I was also open to what I could find.
3. Stock Up on Supplies
Now it’s getting fun. Once you have an idea of what you’d like, head off to your local arts and craft shop. Some big box stores will have some things you can use, but try to find something that is geared toward the hobbies of retirees or homemakers or, well, me. If you’ve never had a reason to enter, these stores are filled with all kinds of interesting, sparkly items.
For my rage stick, I bought a Styrofoam heart, glow in the dark paint, pipe cleaners, rainbow-colored ribbon, gold lame fabric, multi-colored feathers and big letters that spelled out the word “love.” What you stock up on depends on your budget, of course. My recommendation here is “go big or go home.”
4. Get Crafty
Of course, the next step is the assembly process. Glue is your friend: strong cement or super-glue. You do not want this thing falling apart. Remember the name of it: Rage stick. Yes, it’s art that you’re creating here, but you’re going to be running around with this thing. You’ll be jamming along to the best music all weekend, surrounding by your friends and making people smile. You do not want to be responsible for something delicate.
Be sure that you are permanently attaching pieces to the stick. Take your time. It’s fun to see an art project come together, especially if you don’t often give yourself time to get crafty. You may find that you’ll want to add new layers, colors, sparkles and more. The more fun you have making your creation, the more people around you will appreciate your efforts. Remember, you want this to be awesome during the day and during the night. Think lights, colors, action.
5. Handle with Care and Have Fun!
Handle with care, kinda. When you’re shoving this rage stick into your vehicle along with all your other camping gear, packed coolers, bags of festy fashions, hula hoops and other wacky items for an awesome weekend, be careful! Depending on the size of your car, you may have to stick the end of the pole out the front passenger window.
Don’t forget to bring extra glue, clamps, clips or whatever emergency fixers you deem appropriate in case there is a minor accident with your rage stick and you must perform an operation in the middle of the festival. You just don’t know what will happen out there in the crowd! Now, rage on!
