Ken Tanabe | Halloween 2012: Death of Discs

Halloween 2012: Death of Discs

This costume represents the “Death of Discs,” especially CDs and DVDs, and foreshadows the end of Blu-ray and spinning hard drives. It is made of DVD cases and blank DVDs, which are either free or very inexpensive as they approach obsolescence. The concept for this costume came from my Death of VHS costume in 2004, which was made from discarded VHS tapes. Thank you to Catherine Leung for taking these photographs.

MATERIALS:
Free: 16 single-disc DVD cases. Bought: 10 dual-disc DVD cases ($4.29), 50-pack of white printable blank DVDs ($12.50). Already owned: black jeans, black turtleneck, black Y-3 high top shoes, gaffer’s tape, black elastic bands, X-acto blades, gaffer’s tape, scissors.

Halloween Costumes

Halloween Rules

1. Make it yourself.
This is the best way to be original. A store bought costume is better than no costume, but you can do better than that!

2. Use your whole body.
If you wear your usual clothes and throw on a mask, is that really a costume? Go from head to toe.

3. Keep it cheap.
Anybody can spend a zillion dollars on a costume and look cool. The real challenge is making it happen on a budget.

4. Don’t rely on recognition.
Do not dress as a celebrity or a movie character. Standard characters like vampires are off-limits, too.

5. Don’t rely on sex.
Don’t get me wrong – being sexy is great and all. Just don’t rely on it to make your costume work.

6. Don’t rely on horror.
Sure, blood and guts are a Halloween tradition, but don’t feel limited. Take advantage of the day you can wear anything!

Do you make Halloween costumes that follow these rules? If so, contact me.