The Vader Project

On view July 5-9 (opening party Thu., July 8, 6-8 p.m.; auction Sat., July 10, noon), free, Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers, 1808 Chestnut St., 215-563-9275, freemansauction.com.

by Julia West

visual art/auction

The mother of all baddies — the heavy-breathing Darth Vader himself — is getting a face-lift. One hundred of them, actually: Curators Dov Kelemer and Sarah Jo Marks of DKE Toys asked scores of artists asked scores of artists, like Marc Ecko, Secret Base and Jeff Soto, to revamp renditions of this iconic headgear, and the results are dizzying. Following stints in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, the decorated replicas — helmets adorned with everything from braces to a clown nose — have made their way to Philly to be auctioned off to the highest-bidding nerd. "Vader is kind of a universal figure, and to see this huge mass of them all together is so exciting," says Kati Gegenheimer, pop culture administrator of Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers. Prepare yourself to see the Dark Lord of the Sith in a whole new light: wearing a hood and shades, amped up via vibrant anime or decked out in a fruit-basket hat a la Carmen Miranda — er, Mirandarth.