We’ve seen some extraordinarily good, clever, and elaborate cosplay, but longtime designer Athena Cole (also known as Enayla) has taken Portal fan costumes to new heights. In the video below from Invader Boom at PAX 2013, Cole speaks from within a beautifully realized GLaDOS costume, its surface pocked with faux cracks and its its sides framed by bundles of wires. But better than any of the details is the structure itself: to get the costume right, Cole hung a metal frame with fake vines and ropes, then suspended herself from it in a harness. On her Tumblr, Cole says she spent a total of four and a half hours in the air, with breaks roughly every 45 minutes. Much cosplay already requires a serious blend of design smarts and charisma, but this is practically performance art.
A wire-suspended GLaDOS cosplayer turns fandom into performance art
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
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