Back to the Future's Nike AirMag String Art Piece

        I love the Back to the Future Franchise so of course, as a sneakerhead, the Nike AirMag is one of my favorite sneakers of all time... I mean, Grail status. Marty's Nike AirMag's from the future was definitely on my list of sneakers to make so I started figured there's not time better than the present.  This piece actually started quite a while ago after getting many requests from my fans and clients.  The panels themselves are fairly simple, not too many lines or different colors.  The real trick was the lights... how am I going to do this??

Nike AirMag SoleStitch

Nike AirMag - Wiring the Lights

After weeks of searching I came across something called EL panels. Electroluminescent panels are basically a sheet of light that you can cut into any shape.  These panels are actually powered by AC power, contrary to the LED's that use DC.  So some tricky wiring had to be done to make it work all off one switch

The first thing I had to do was get the lighting system squared away.  The difficult part of the AirMag is that the LED bank and the midsole lighting are two different types of lights.  The LED bank was a matter of simple resistors and soldering however the the light in the midsole looks like a solid panel of light, nothing sourced like a bulb.

Nike AirMag - Wiring the Lights

Nike AirMag Lighting positioning

Once I laid out my pattern on the wood, I got started framing up the lights so they'd stay in place.  I ran the wires through the wood and created a cavity in back to store the battery pack and wiring.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was simpler to mount the lighting than I thought and damn it looked great!

The stringing was pretty straight forward however I ended up using a TON of that grey heavy duty thread.  Almost 5 spools (30 yards each).  The piece was really coming together at this point and I just had the details left.  

Nike Air Mag - Initial Midsole Layers

Nike Air Mag - Ankle Strap

The ankle strap was added after the main sections of the AirMag were completed.  This gave the strap a some depth and ensured that the upper material looked like a solid panel.  Once I completed that and added the Nike check and there it was in all its glory.

Nike AirMag SoleStitch String Art - Lit up