I’m constantly getting into silly arguments with my partner about my DIY projects. Whenever I turn to him for advice, ever the left-brainer, he gives me the practical answer, which I hate. Shouldn’t you be able to carry it this way? Wouldn’t this shape make it sturdier? What’s this extra piece for? Excellent questions, all.
I’m realizing that on the art/design spectrum, I fall much closer to the former than I thought. I like nonfunctional objects, unanswerable questions, excessive use of materials and lots of extra steps. I can’t help it. The problem I’m usually trying to solve is how to add strangeness and beauty to my surroundings, not how to make life easier. If you look at my archive of DIY projects, I think you’ll see that at heart, I’m really not a pragmatist or a minimalist, as much as I’d like to be. Form does not follow function — they duke it out constantly.
I’ve prefaced this particular project with the above disclaimer because I want everyone to know that this project is not practical. Electrical cords continue to vex those with aesthetic sensibilities; the majority of us want them to blend unobtrusively into the background — or better yet, disappear altogether. But say you have a cord that needs to stretch across a room, and you’re sick of the tack-it-along-the-floorboards approach. My hope is that you might consider going the opposite route: Make the cord the center of attention, perhaps a giant colorful braid that you probably won’t trip on because, well, you can’t stop staring at it.
Is this project practical? No. Can you remove the cords easily from these tubes? No. Is it wise to put a giant rope out on the floor? Um, not really. But this is the only extension cord I’ve ever liked enough to potentially wear out of the house as a giant necklace, and that’s success in my book. So if you’re into a little frivolous anti-design, this project is cheap, easy and really fun to make. Enjoy! — Kate
Read the full how-to after the jump!
