Chris Hackett
DIY bad boy Mr. Hackett
If you are ever stuck on a deserted island, Hackett is the guy you want to be stuck with. He will fashion some old batteries and a coconut or two into a jet powered raft and blast his way back to civilization. If you are nice to him, he will take you along for the ride home. If you are not nice, he will jet off without you. Fortunately Hackett has a good heart and will send the cavalry to rescue you. This man is like the A-Team mixed with MacGuyver , with a dash of Wesley Snipes thrown in (minus the tax problems). I met Hackett at the first World’s Maker Faire in New York City in 2010. Meeting Hackett means something special is about to happen. In this case, that special thing was that I got to ride a pulse-jet powered pony:
There are so many other cool things about Hackett. He has his own TV show on the Discovery Channel. How many other Makers have their own TV show? Yeah, I didn’t think so!! Hackett is also one of the founders of the The Madagascar Institute, an “art combine in Brooklyn that specializes in large-scale sculptures and rides, live performances, and guerilla art events”. That description is so very modest, and barely even hints at the wild projects like their Dueling Mechanical Bulls. I gotta say that I’m not so sure about their unofficial motto “Safety Third”, though having inspected the Jet Ponies before I rode them, I must admit that they were very safely and solidly built. Or maybe I was just too excited at the prospect of riding a jet engine to think about the fact that I was sitting on top of a jet engine!
For all his hard work, I couldn’t resist giving Hackett one of my Maker Faire Editor’s Choice Blue Ribbons. Hackett was so happy at receiving his blue ribbon. I had to photoshop his picture a little to tune down his happiness a notch!
We Are The Black Makers! 